


Magically Induced [Violentine]

by The_Real_Keel



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Belief, Blood, F/F, Fluff, Magic, Romance, Slow Burn, Smut, Violence, Violentine, vi x clem, violet x clementine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-10-26 05:35:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 32,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20737058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Real_Keel/pseuds/The_Real_Keel
Summary: Magic. A concept as fake as it can get. Only logic and science determines what will be. Even the mere thought of magic existing is an absurd one.Well... at least it was until something made itself known.(Story involves a bunch of lore and world building. This will be quite a long story (I hope) where I'll aim to make each chapter close or over 10,000 words long. And I have no end goal in mind. So I could end it at chapter 10, 20, 50, or if I'm insane, 100+. So I hope that I'll stay on board with this fic, even though the fandom keeps dropping in numbers everyday .There is smut but it is skippable. And this will probably be my last fic on Violentine, as sad as I am to say but like I said, I want to make this a long story..





	1. Chapter I - Let's Begin

(So this is the longest chapter I have ever written. It clocks in with over 11,000 words. This story will be somewhat of a slow burner and a chapter will be released every two weeks (very likely)) 

I opened my eyes with a sharp intake of breath to reveal... nothing. Nothing except darkness. But strangely, I could see my limbs just as I could if it were a sunny day. And I was floating. I gently landed on my feet a few seconds after becoming lucid"Am I... dead?" I asked feeling a peace I haven't felt in... ever 

"No. You're still very much alive" A feminine voice replied from right inside my head. I looked around for the source of the voice to only find more darkness. "Where am I?" I asked with a hint of fear lingering in my voice. Just then did a white door appear a few feet in front of me 

"Come in Clementine. I need to talk to you about many, many things" I hesitantly walked forward and reached for the golden doorknob. Was this some type of weird dream? It felt pretty real... When I open this door would I wake up? I opened the door to reveal an opulent living room. Wooden walls with no windows, a fancy looking fireplace in the middle of the back wall, with only one red couch encrusted with gold on the edges about ten feet away from the fireplace. I walked into the room and closed the door. It instantly disappeared the second I did so which started to make me freak out 

"Do not fret Clementine, for I am only a being that seeks peace and gives knowledge" 

"What are you?" I ask with slight anxiety

"I guess you could call me your savior," The voice said from right behind me. I swiftly turned around to reveal a being sitting on the couch facing toward the fireplace. The back of its head seemed off, but I put that aside for now. 

I slowly walked towards it as my suspicion grew, and gasped when I saw its face. It was... beautiful, yet terrifying at the same time. She had long green hair, greyish skin, four eyes, the top left eye was all but red, and the one below it seemed metallic, fangs, a dog nose that blends with the skin, ram horns, gills on the sides of her neck, and ears of a horse 

"What are you?" I asked with mild fascination and disgust 

"I... used to be human, just like you around a thousand or so years ago. Oh, how time flew" She responded looking at the black armor that encompassed almost all of her body and her... her arms 

She had four arms. The extra set started a few inches below her original ones. Her top right arm was robotic, many pieces put it together and glowed with a dim blue where lights were put on to it. And where her hand should have been was instead a gigantic stainless steel and extremely sharp sickle. Her other arms didn't seem to be out of the ordinary except for, y'know, there were two more

"What happened to you?" I asked, eyeing her limbs

She made eye contact with me. Do you know how creepy it is to have someone with four eyes to do that to you? To say the least, I think eye contact just became a new phobia.

She wore a blank face as she started talking "Magical mishaps, curses, and more magical mishaps over the course of fifty years" 

"...ah" I plainly replied, fear leaving my system. This was obviously a dream 

She stood up and raised to her full height, about two feet taller than I am. I thought she couldn't be even more strange, but I was proven wrong. Her left leg was that of a zebra and her right foot was that of an eagle talon. Then a pair of wings shot out from her back. Her left of which was a giant feathery one and the other was that of a leathery one. And the final piece she had was that of a... I wanna say lizard's tail? It was dark green and the length made it down three-quarters of her legs, going from thick when it began to thinner and thinner until it ended 

Just when I started thinking about when I would wake up she spoke again "Sit, I'll be right back" She just vanished into thin air after those words, leaving me in the room all by myself

I was confused to say the least, but I plopped my ass down on the couch. After a few seconds, she reappeared in a throne-like looking chair blocking out the fireplace "I know you think I'm fake, a dream, which I don't blame you for because all this stuff I've told you and about to tell you is what a madman would think. But it is the truth." She looked at me waiting for a response, I just nodded my head. "Magic exists Clementine. And I want to teach you how to use it"I raised a brow at her statements 

"Magic? Like fairy tale magic? Why would you teach me magic, even if it did exist" I asked, the concept not making any sense in more than one way 

"I know it sounds crazy, trust me, when I was your age I thought the same. But if you take my advice you will be able to learn the most basic elements of magic there are. And I want to teach you because... humanity will technically die within the next twenty years, to a point of no recovery. And you're one of the only people capable of stopping it" 

"Humanity will die? What about the community that I live in? And why me? How come I'm one of the only ones?" I asked, playing her game until this dream was over 

"Humanity's population in the next ten years will drop below one hundred thousand. And when that happens, humanity will be so far spread out that the enclaves that do exist, if they were to start procreating, eventually down the line horrible birth defects take place killing the generation after the next. For your community... I strongly detect that it will fall after a few years. But with my help, you can get passed what's to come" She stopped and took a quick breath "And you're one of three people capable of doing magic and being a leader that can do this because corruption can't exist in your mind. You are a very rare individual" 

"Only three people can do magic?" I asked, starting to get invested in the story 

"No. Anyone can do magic if they try hard enough. But the reasons I chose you three is something that I cannot say, not just yet. And I am to not reveal your identities to each other. Only when the time is right" There goes one of my questions 

"So where are you and why are you doing this?" I pondered 

"Right now, I'm in a pocket dimension that I created to talk to you. But in the sense of where I live relative to you, in a different universe. There are only three universes, one of which is the universe that I live in, the second universe is yours which is dying, and the third one is already dead. I saved my universe by unifying the planet under one flag. If I didn't do that, everything would have died by a God of Chaos. I'm here to save your universe now." All this information... So much and so bizarre. 

"Why don't you just come over to my universe if you're this mighty powerful being?" I asked, testing her a bit 

"Your world isn't ready for something like me. They'd try to kill me on sight which then I would sadly have to kill them all. This is just a speculation, but it's not worth taking the risk. You need to prepare your world for my presence" She answered. 

I started feeling unwelcome by the number of questions I was asking even though her attitude hasn't changed at all "Why couldn't you just use your 'magic' to manipulate their minds then? How would I even prepare my world for you?" 

She took a deep breath "Magic has a few rules. First thing's first, you cannot use magic to kill or harm someone straight up. Yes, you can summon a weapon then use that to kill or harm them with, but you cannot just wish them to be harmed or dead. The second rule is no manipulation of the mind. None. The third rule is that you cannot use magic to give someone else magic. It just doesn't work. The fourth rule is that you cannot make or destroy mass or energy. Whatever you make appear before you comes from somewhere else in the world. The fifth rule is that you cannot create or resurrect life. There is necromancy magic... but in your case, that's happening everywhere. Elaborating on the second rule, you can transfer consciousnesses, but not for long amounts of time as the magical grip on consciousness is very weak. And to answer your question of how to prepare your world for me, introduce them to magic first, then we'll talk" Just as she answered, her robotic arm beeped 

"I'm running out of time," She said as she made a clock appear before her eyes "Before I go, I need to tell you how to start to prepare for the ability of magic" She informed as she threw the clock away, it disappearing before it hit the ground. I nod my head to her words "Go into a silent room, empty your mind of thought, and believe that you can do what you want to do. Use hand gestures and the like to help focus your mind. Start small with something like telekinesis. And when you attempt to do telekinesis, use an object that's light in mass. When you do this enough times and do believe you can do it, you will. This is the hardest milestone to overcome, but the second you overcome it, your mind would then be exposed to the forces of magic, integrating it with its physics making future magic learning exponentially easier" 

"How do I know this isn't just a dream?" I asked her as she stood up 

"In the morning, AJ storms into your room. Later that day you get new visitors at your gates. And you'll be pissed at Louis" She stated off supposed future events. "And a final thing, don't tell anyone about me or this experience until you learn how to control magic" 

"When's the next-" She cut me off by shushing me and snapping her fingers, making the room go pitch black 

"Wake up. Wake up" She repeated, "Wake up!" 

... 

"Wake up!" Violet half yelled at me from right beside me 

I bolted awake and sat upright, my heartbeat racing and my eyes wide open. The rush of adrenaline quickly diminished as I reverted to an exhausted state I'm usually always in when I wake up. Violet puts her arms around my exposed torso and gently laid me back down 

"I was about to pour water on you to wake you up. I've never seen you so deep in sleep. Are you okay?" Violet commented and asked with a concerned voice. I took a few seconds to remember what I just dreamt about 

"I had the weirdest dream, it was about-" I cut myself off remembering what the being said. What am I doing? It was just a dream...wasn't it? 

"About...?" Violet asked as I rolled slightly to make eye contact easier, reminding me of the four-eyed beast 

Should I say the truth or make up a random dream...? I thought "...It was about Louis raising cats and cows with walkers that turned sour" I lied off the top of my head after a few quick seconds of thought 

She started giggling "I'd say that's pretty damn weird. But strangely, I wouldn't put it passed Louis if he could communicate with walkers to raise animals"

"You know what? Yeah" I agreed as she got out of our bed, presumably to get fully dressed 

"We should get to checking on everything, make sure no one's fucking up anything, you know the usual, Madam President. But I have to do a little something later today" She teased with a grin as she put a blank white shirt on

I scoffed "Stop calling me that" I pleaded which only made Violet's grin grow 

"But you run this place-"

"With the huge help of you, don't forget" I butted in

"And you're the best leader any of us have ever seen. You've made every right decision with this place. How you remade it, expanded it, repaired it, made farms, made workshops, made basic laws, accepted the good people, rejected the bad people, set up a damn radio station with a mini wind turbine power source" She stopped to take a breath "send out badass search parties that look for survivors once a week, started figuring out how to implement electricity to the entire school, and made this place an impenetrable fortress. I could keep going but you are amazing at what you do. So you deserve an amazing title"

I smiled slightly and a small blush appeared on my face "Isn't me being called your girlfriend enough-?"

The door slammed open and someone ran in. That same someone hugged Violet just above her waist and squeezed her quickly yelling "Happy fifth anniversary Violet!" And just as quick as they came in, right back out the door they went, giggling all the down the hall

A flustered Violet cleared her throat "Well" is all she said closing the door "Why doesn't anyone knock?" She asked particularly to no one 

"Well maybe if you didn't break the lock then maybe that wouldn't be a problem," I remarked with a sly grin

"Wha-Why am I being blamed for the lock!?" Violet asked with minor offense putting a hand on her chest

I squinted my eyes slightly looking at her "Anyway, I don't know how many times I have to tell AJ to knock-" My heart dropped to my ass. The dream... It was correct. The lady that I didn't get the name of was right. AJ did burst into our room... It has to be a coincidence, it has to be

"What? Are you thinking of last time AJ walked in on us?" Violet asked holding back laughter

My face flushed remembering the event... that was the longest conversation I've ever had. "...yeah. I really don't want that to happen again" I went with her assumption, keeping the dream a secret "And it's not funny!" I retorted to her actions 

"It really is. The way you explained it took so long for him to understand" Violet replied with a few giggles

"Can we just change the subject?" I asked as I finally got up from the bed

"Of course, Madam President" Violet happily replied as I just rolled my eyes going to our closet and picking an outfit that consisted of my newish boot that was recently scavenged and gifted to me, a pair of black jeans that were also in good condition, and a blue shirt that was just the right size. I put my old blue jacket on to complete the look. My hat was lost a few years back in a shootout, of which there were no casualties on both sides. But when I went back to look for it, it was gone. I still miss that hat, I had it for so long

The final thing I grabbed was our walkie talkies, charged by the same power source that powers the radio station. Every leader of every workshop had their own so they could radio in if anything went south at any time. We were lucky to find as many as we did, I swear we've gotten too lucky the past couple of years. I handed Violet's hers and put mine to my waist 

"Let's go," Violet said opening the door and entering the hallway. I followed pursuit shortly after, looking at the walls. They were painted white, no holes or graffiti remained while the floor was also repaired and repainted to a dark brown. The woodshop practically remade the floors and walls, and with the paintestry did they all get painted. The woodshop even made me a durable and high-quality prosthetic leg. Every window in the building was also repaired thanks to the works of the glassery and its workers. The two-year transformation and rework of the entire school was completed just a few months ago

When we started walking side by side towards the courtyard doors, Violet asked with mild surprise "Has it really been five years since we first met?" 

I thought for a few seconds, "It was around this time of year. It is mid-August now, right?" 

"Indeed it is. That means our fifth anniversary is close" Violet stated with a happy smile

My heart fluttered with nostalgia remembering that night on the bell tower. Every moment was like yesterday, to the chatting, the atmosphere, and the feelings. "Wow. It really has." I look over to her with my own smile. I lean in quickly and peck her on her cheek as there were a couple of people walking the halls with us

"That's it?" She jokingly responded "I was hoping for a little something more... if you know what I mean" 

"Not in front of people, Violet!" I scold in a whispered shout, a slight blush appearing on my face. She just giggles in response and opens the doors to the outside

The people of Violentine (Yes, we renamed the school Violentine because of the backlash of the idea of Texas Two got when it was brought up all those years ago. But when Aasim chipped in the name Violentine as a joke, the others took it seriously and voted to rename the school that) were bustling about doing their professions. The courtyard became the heart of the school with most of the workshops occupying the area. Before I get on with the courtyard though, let me tell you the school is much larger than what I thought when I originally came here. The whole school is likely more than twenty times bigger than the courtyard, which was located in one of the corners of the school. It has many more dorms, a gymnasium, many sheds, and a giant cafeteria. The reason why the occupants didn't live in these areas before I got here, is because they didn't really need to as they had too little people. But after a few months of recruiting and whatnot, we finally occupied said areas. 

Anyway, onto the courtyard. The workshops consisted of the woodshop, paintestry, and glassery as mentioned previously, but also included the ammunition and arrow workshop, which deals with training people to use weapons and makes ammo, the smeltery, which smelts scavenged metal, which also has a grindstone makes sure that tools stay in good condition, makes tools, sheet metal, ammo casings, and arrowheads, at the moment they were making mini wind turbines and setting them aside for when we implement them for electricity, and even iron armor that can cover our legs, arms, back, and torso. 

A hunting station brings hunted deer and the like here to skin and process them. The skins then go to our clothing station to make shoes and coats. The clothing station also receives imports of cotton we grow to make leggings, shirts, hats, casts, and bandages. Also in that department where we grow cotton, we also grow a magnitude of healing herbs and plants, a large array of corn, beans, cabbage, grain, tomatoes, carrots, apples, and potatoes.

Of course, our farms are outside of the school's walls. They cover an absurd amount of land. And to get this land and secure it, we had to chop down many trees. That of which were then made into sturdy wooden fences surrounding all of our farms. And a final detail on these farms is that we planted them along the river that flows near us, giving them a source of water constantly. We also use this river to get our freshwater, on top of that, we set up many fishing nodes where people go fishing and set up fish traps

Livestock was introduced about a year ago now by us capturing sheep and cattle. The fifteen sheep we have grow their wool and we use it to make higher-quality clothing and blankets. Seventeen cattle produce milk, butter, and cheese. We very rarely slaughter our livestock but as their population increases, the thought becomes more and more valid every month

We have five horses for transportation. Four of them go with search party members to cover more ground and to also help them carry more equipment. The fifth horse, named Sven, is my horse. I use him to get around the area of Violentine to check on miscellaneous things to see if anything needs help and to see if everything's going swell.

We erected a radio station that reaches out for miles around, so if there happens to be anyone passing by, they'll hear our message that there's asylum close. And if they're calling in, we'll receive it and reply. Of course, there are heavy precautions when we do this, aka, if they're looking for asylum, we'll be armed heavily and meet at a designated area and ask them many questions. They will then be supervised for a month or so if they make the cut. Newcomers only get two strikes, and once they make a third, out the gates they go. There've been a couple of times where we were jumped but we were prepared for it. The worst jump we had three of our people shot. One in the kidney, another the forearm, and the last, their shoulder. Somehow, whether that be through sheer luck or our organization skills, they survived. We've turned away a small amount of people though, as little as six

There have been incidences though where someone has come with ill intent. We dealt them with accordingly. And there has been someone who escaped and got a couple of miles out. But with our horses, trackers, and equipment, we apprehended them and neutralized the threat. They knew what the consequences would be if they were to backstab us

And the final thing that's changed is we made six watchtowers in the school scanning every side. The people that keep watch are equipped with bows and arrows, while half of them have at least some type of sniper. If anything seems strange or we spot a walker, they radio in and assess what's going down, and depending on the situation, we usually head out and deal with it

"Good morning Madam President!" Around ten people, including Willy, Ruby, and Aasim, all called out simultaneously from their workstations or where they were just chilling and talking

Taken by surprise with my eyes wide open, I smiled slightly and simply addressed them all with a cheery "At ease" as I heard Violet giggle. The citizens continue to their professions with vigor as I assume my presence heightens their motives.

"I may or may not have given them the idea" Violet replied before I could ask. I thought about the title for a few seconds.

I guess I did deserve the title... "So I guess that makes you the first lady" I stated and bopped her nose as I walked into the courtyard

"The first what!?" I heard Violet call out as I approached the radio station that was dead in the center of the courtyard that was placed in a gazebo-like structure

"Anything come up recently, Hailey?" I asked the sullen pale brunette manning the station 

"No, ma'am. I was about to head out to the fields to see what I can do. Listening to this station typically gets dry fast" She replied in a stern voice. I nodded in reply, as Hailey has never been the talkative type. Understandable for her past, but nonetheless I moved on to the next station

I continued this cycle, checking on them to see if all is well, how much they're station is producing, what their station needs for it to produce, and striking up conversation with the folk

As I walked towards the main gates, my walkie buzzed to life "There's uh about three walkers coming in from the East. A small group but still a threat. You know what to do team. East tower out"

"Austin, Willy! Walkers in the East!" I called out to the two in charge of the ammunition station. They quickly grabbed their go-to weapons and light armor. I relayed the information for the two men once they walked up to me "Now, of course, don't get bit and all that. I'd hate for us to go through that again" They nodded, handed me a knife because I was headed out as well, and began to exit the gates, but before I could leave I was stopped by a little someone

"May I come with you?" AJ asked as he walked up to me with his hands in his pockets

"Why of course you can. Though I don't think there'll be much fun for the few things that we'll be doing out here" I answered putting the knife in my holster, walking out the gates and waiting for him to follow. After he got out of the gates imminent grasp, I informed the gatekeeper to close the gates

AJ shrugged and answered with "Eh, I just need to be out of these walls for a little bit"I laughed a little bit 

"Oh how I know that feeling" The sheet metaled gates closed and I started walking to our left, onto the dirt path that leads to the main area of agriculture 

"Where's Sven?" AJ asked looking around for the missing horse

"He's still in his stable. I don't know what kind of sickness he has but it's kind of worrying, even though I've been told not to because it'll soon be over" I answered briefly

"So what are we doing anyway?" He chimed in after a few seconds of silence, having to slightly quicken his pace to match mine. He was still short after all, even though he finally did hit the double digits a few months back

"I'm gonna check how the crops and livestock are doing" I answered as I looked at the saplings that were on both sides of the trail. Trees that would, in a few years, start growing oranges. Violet thought she was being really funny when she planted about fifty of them overnight. Which I mean... it was. How could I be teased if the gesture didn't eventually lead up to even more food?

"But you always check on it. Aren't people assigned to their occupations accordingly?" AJ asked with some thought

I always liked how he had quite a big vocabulary and grasp on reality for his age, it makes it much more fun to talk to him, "Well, yes, but as their leader, I always need to know what's happening, when to expect things, etcetera "

"Hm. Being a leader always sounds boring, tedious, and stressful" He commented

"At times it is, very much so it is. Even times where you wish to abdicate. But in times like those, you always look to the reasons why you're doing the things you're doing in the first place. Mainly the people and why they matter. But I'm lucky at the moment to just be content with the things that are happening, excited even with the electricity plan inching forward every day" 

"Yeah... I don't think I'd be a good leader" AJ responds twiddling his fingers

"Really? I think you'd have great leadership skills. Or at least when it comes to making hard decisions fast. Like when you amputated my leg and got me back to the school? Which is one of the many reasons why I would think so" I pointed out, remembering the event 

"I barely managed to do that though!" He rebutted my statement

"And even after all those obstacles, you somehow pulled it off. I'm such a lucky person to have gotten through that. All thanks to you" We continued our walk and the occasional small chat until finally after about ten minutes did the fields come into view

"These farms are so much work" AJ pouted looking at the vast amount of green and yellow plants

"But they're so worth it. Without them, we would have migrated years ago" I replied, observing around five people tending to the crops

"I know, I know... But that doesn't make my sentence any less true"

"Correct." I simply agreed, heading to the not so shabby farmhouse we built off to the side of the agriculture. I made my way up the small staircase and when I got to the front door, I knocked and waited for a response "Melissia? You in there?" I heard clanging off to the left of the house where the barn was, then the barn doors opened revealing the redhead. 

"Reporting for duty," She said with a cheeky smile.

"Here to check on the state of things, you know, the usual" I replied with a smile going back down the stairs to meet her face to face "Sven's in here, right?" I asked when I was at an acceptable distance 

"Yes ma'am, and he's acting much better now. It only goes uphill from here. You could actually take him for a ride if you want" She replied as she went to the wall where a clipboard hangs. She took it down and read aloud as I walked up to the white horse who was a little excited to see me again. "The corn and apples will be ready in about two months, the cabbages in two weeks, the grain should actually be harvested tomorrow, and the rest is about a month out" Melissa relays all the information as I pet Sven on the neck

"No birds, parasites, or fence damage?" I asked as I retracted my hand from Sven

"There are still a few birds we need to deal with, but other than that the parasites have been exterminated and we've repaired any damage that has been done to the fences in the past couple months" Melissa addressed as she handed the clipboard to me so I could look over it "Also, one of the cattle gave birth last night which brings our cattle number up to a grand eighteen"

"That's fantastic!-" I announced before I was cut off by the familiar buzzing that was my walkie talkie 

"Clementine, we need you at the front gates immediately" A fellow by the name of Dante demanded. I unhooked the walkie and looked at Sven

I had a heart-wrenching feeling about this... "...Is it new people?" I asked waiting for a reply. A few seconds later did I get my answer

"I- How did you know?" My heart dropped as I rehooked the walkie, handed back the clipboard, and opened the stable door and quickly got on Sven.

"AJ stay here, you know the drill," I say as I slightly kick Sven's sides to get him moving "Hyah!" 

"But-" Is all AJ said before I sped off back down the dirt path. I quickly arrived back at the gates in under three minutes and see three new and dirty faces, one of which couldn't have been any more than five years old 

They were probably twenty feet away from the gates as four armed guards eyed them. They had their hands up and their weapons to the ground. I must've scared them with Sven because they kind of backed away making a guard bark

"Halt!" the tan and long black haired Venessa ordered to the strangers making them freeze

"At ease. Venessa, Tommy, by my flanks" I commanded as they obliged without thought. I strode up slowly whilst on Sven and asked after a few silent seconds "So. Who are you and what are your intentions?" I asked the redhead in the middle, who seemed like she was the leader of the batch

She cleared her throat and answered with a southern twang "This is my husband Liam, and our son, Logan" She answered using her hands to signify who, even though it was pretty obvious. I took that time to eye the weapons that they had laid down and were now located many feet away from their owners. Small rusty knives, I wouldn't put my life behind these knives, that's for sure "We saw the farms and thought about taking anything, we didn't. And... our intentions are for a place to live... we've been out here for around two years. We've lost people, barely survived out here, and this is one of the only settlements we have found in that span... The others rejected us. We're starving to death..."

Now that she says it, I payed attention to the state of them. They were practically skeletons while their clothes were hanging on together by strings, the look of the boy shattered my heart, reminding me of when I was on the road for years. But I just... have a feeling about these people, one in particular "Hm." I said as I look at their weapons again "Laying down your arms is a great first impression as much as it is stupid" I commented "How many people have you killed?"

She coughs nervously "I guess that depends on the circumstances... but intentional, four people" She claims as she looks to her naturally young silver-topped husband 

"I've killed over ten"

"Why?" 

"We had to protect the communities we were living in" She answered with confidence

I thought for a few seconds "Venessa, take their knives and try to salvage them" She picked the four knives, making the family seem a little on edge "There are going to be a few rules," I announce to them making them calm down slightly "new people have two strikes when they enter our walls. And when you make a third strike, out the gates you go. The first month you'll be here you will be supervised closely. Now onto the things that cause strikes; stealing, vandalism, sabotage, harassment, and or breaking any of the twenty other laws that are in place here that will be read to you soon. But note, if one of these crimes is big enough, you will instantly be kicked out on the spot, and if you were to come back here ever again, or anywhere close to us for that matter, you will be labeled as to be killed on sight target. And if you murder someone from our community, you will have a bounty on your head to be killed. Are we clear?" 

"Yes, certainly, those are all followable rules and completely necessary ones," The woman said with glee

"Tommy will be your guide and observer for now. Tommy, would you?" I asked gesturing towards the family. He replied with a simple yes ma'am and walked up to them, "Oh, I almost forgot. You will have this day to get cleaned up and all that. But tomorrow, you will be assigned an occupation and be trained. Any objections?" The family stayed quiet, they just nodded at my response 

"Uh which dorm will they have?" Tommy chimed in

"Fairly certain 800's free" He nodded and started talking to the family "Immediately get my attention if something's to happen" I advised all the present guards

Now that I've addressed thee situation, I turned around and started banking it back to the barn. I thought about the dream I had. It has correctly predicted two things now... but I also think about the redhead. There was something about her I just couldn't put together. I should go talk to her some more in a bit

I pulled up into the red barn and parked my horse into his stable. I patted his neck and said a few words of affection before closing the stable door

"So, new people?" AJ asked right when I turned around, startling me a bit "Whoops, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"

I chuckled at myself "It's fine AJ. But yeah, a starving family of three is getting introduced around the area. Their supervision has already begun" 

"Well, that's good for many reasons. More hands to go around and more people to get to know!" He cheered with a bright smile. I always liked his optimism. Ever since we started accepting good people, he's always seen the best in them. Unlike yours truly, but accepting people is the foundation of a community that needs to live

"Speaking of getting to know people, I was actually just about to go speak to them some more" I responded making my way outside of the barn, followed by my little duckling 

"Why the urgency? You usually wait a day before you start getting to know new people?" AJ asked a valid question

"There's... I don't know. It's something about one of them. I want to say... that she seems familiar, but I can't quite fully come to that conclusion" 

"So if they are to stay, how many people would that bring our population to?" He asked curiously. He was always wanting to know the amount of... well, almost anything. I guess he liked progression, which was always fun to keep track of 

"I think it would bring it up to... fooourty-six, if I'm not mistaken?" Onward we went down the old dirt path as I admired the fencing that also railed the path to the school

As we approached the gates, a familiar face was waiting for us "There you are" Tommy pointed out with no sign of his followers. I asked him where they were "They're with Felix, they were in pretty dire condition, ma'am. So I sent them to the showers under the supervision of Felix, ordered them new clothes, and told them to go to the cafeteria when they're done with their showers" I forgot to mention the showers previously. The water we use to wash ourselves is collected with huge rainwater collectors located on top of the school. The water is then pumped, powered by the same wind turbines that power the other electrical equipment, into the showers. There are plans to make it warm water, but at this point in time there's just not enough electricity and knowledge to go around, but we're working on that. A final tidbit is the showers are located near the center of the school, by the cafeteria

Also, for those of you who don't know, no, we do not watch strangers take showers. We just stay near them while they shower whilst keeping their privacy. We're not barbarians. Though how Tommy managed to get Felix to do so is beyond me.

I nodded at his words and called for the gatekeeper to open the gates. When I got inside I was told "Hey mom, I'm gonna go help Mark and Stein with the turbines. This electricity stuff is only becoming cooler and cooler" AJ insisted. I allowed him to do so and went on with my business 

I quickly shuffled my way towards the showers. When I got into the hallway that leads to the showers, I saw Felix himself standing guard at the door wearing the mandatory guards uniform. Light armor with their sharpened hunting knives in a holster

I asked him if they were still in there "Aye" he simply responded "Though they should be out any second" he added on as he knocked on the wooden door "You almost done in there?" He called out

"Just about!" Liam answered, slightly muffled through the door

"Bring them to the cafeteria when they're done," I asked politely. He just saluted as I began to make my way to the cafeteria. I dragged my hand across the white smooth wall and thought about how they came to be. I often think about these things and I don't know why. Perhaps it's because we built this place from the ground up? Or maybe the odds of it being here in the first place? Whatever it was, I'm so very thankful that I've lasted this far and found this school. There's no guessing where I'd be if I didn't. And the thought of me never finding Violet... makes me extremely sad. I can't believe crashing my car would be the best thing to happen to my life

When I walked into the cafeteria, the scent of vegetable soup and wooden furniture hit my nostrils. The white tiled floors harbored many tables and stools that were all carved and put together by the woodshop, the wool we grow was put atop the stools to give them a plush feeling. The whole left side of the wall when you walked in was a giant wall-window, lighting up the cafeteria

The soup itself is made outside as we need to burn wood and charcoal to heat up the ingredients. Made behind the cafeteria, a doorway connects the areas. And once it's done, medium-sized bowls are brought in and put on display for people to grab. People are usually only allowed one serving per feeding time, but there are exceptions. Like when you're sick and whatnot. I'll have to tell that family to eat slow and not too much. Doing that when starving has unwanted consequences. So I grabbed a couple of bowls that were set out already as lunch was rolling around the corner and set them at a table in the corner of the cafeteria

I grabbed a couple more bowls to cover the remaining family member and myself. When I set them down, Felix walked in with the family, who strode into the kitchen eyeing everything with wonder. I waved to them and called them over."Feel free to join us, Felix" I suggested as he nodded in reply

"This is for us?" Logan asked with a high pitched voice of gratefulness as he walked up

"Well, of course, little one. What kind of person would I be if I were to let you be hungry? Lord knows we have enough to go around nowadays" I answered happily, gesturing them to sit

"Thank you... so much" Liam praised as he took a seat and took hold of the spoon that was already in the bowl and gulped down the vegetables

"Now don't eat too fast, beware that if you eat too fast and too much, you can die if you do that" I warned in a serious tone. That got their attention and listened to my command

When I got a couple of bites in, a question popped into my mind as I was eyeing the girl 

"Say, I never did get your name, Miss...?"

"Heh, neither did I. I reckon you're the one in charge given the obvious authority you have over others?" She asked as I took another bite and nodded to answer her question "It's Bonnie, by the way, and you are?"

I sat there savoring the food, thinking. Bonnie... where have I heard that name before...?

The food quickly got shot out of my mouth as I started to furiously cough from the realization. Felix and Liam instantly got to their feet as they tried to help me from whatever caused my sudden outburst "I'm fine! I'm fine!" I say through coughs as I regain myself after half a minute

With a shaky hand, I pointed at her "Bonnie?" I repeated her answer as she nods with confusion. I put my hand to my chest "Clementine" Good thing she wasn't eating or holding her spoon as she realizes who I am. She slowly put her hands to her mouth and mumbled her flabbergasted emotions

"Do you guys know each other?" Felix asked after a couple of seconds of silence

"I... I guess you could say that" I replied as I stood up "Make sure they eat slow. You can have my portion, I've lost my appetite" I looked at Bonnie "I'll speak to you later" I quickly walked off to find Violet, wherever she was 

I needed to talk to her fast. So I walked with a brisk pace back to the courtyard to see if I could spot her

"Louis and Cain are back!" Gatekeeper Zachery hollered toward my direction as I heard the familiar sound of a truck pulling up and parking. I was already close to them, so I might as well check on what they were able to find this time. I climbed up the watchtower that controlled the closing and opening of the main entrance. I look down to see the familiar white truck with it's back and trailer full of equipment, scrap metal, wiring, and many other various types of items. I saw Louis get out of the driver's seat and Cain exit the passenger side door. When Louis looked up at me, he puts on a sheepish smile and waved a hand

"A long ass story short, Louis kind of popped the front tire and we had to use the last spare" The gothic-like Cain called up to me lightly kicking the spare tire that was now being used

"W-Louis! How did you manage to pop the tire? Again!?" I asked lining up my reasons for him to never drive again. I looked down at him to see him still wearing that cheeky smile but he was now rubbing the back of his neck. I raised my voice a little louder "Well, now you have to go find anoth-" Why am I getting so mad over this? Wait... I'm pissed off at Louis... I took a deep breath. I was tired of feeling my heart fall to my ass. "Nevermind that, you'll pay for it later. Sort and distribute that stuff out, and make sure you do it correctly this time" I scold slightly "Have you seen Violet from up here?" I turned and asked the tanned Zachery

"Well last time I saw her, she went into the dorms. I'm unsure if she's come back out yet" He answered in a more than gentle voice

I thanked him for the information and started making my way back down the watchtower and back to the hallway that leads to our dorms. The first dorm I would check would naturally be the one that we share, so I made my way towards it. When I walked up to the familiar room, I came to the quick realization that our door was wide open. Thinking Violet would be in there, I walked inside only for the door to be slammed shut. And before I could turn around, a pair of arms took hold of me around my waist and shoulders

"I always go crazy when I hear you use your stern leader voice. I don't know what exactly about it touches me the way it does, but it always makes me want you so badly" Violet purred into one of my ears. Before I could tell her I needed to talk to her about my relation to the family, she kissed my neck and started to suck voraciously 

"V-Violet! Don't you think it's a-a little too early for this?" I asked holding back a few moans that tried to escape

"Since when have you cared what time we do this?" She asked as her hand around my waist trailed down to try and unbutton my pants

"I need to talk to you about the new people, we can do this later" I informed grabbing her hand and stopping it from advancing any further 

She sighed and stopped her advance as she backed away from me. I turned around to reveal just a slightly disappointed face 

"Have they already made a strike?" Violet asked as she crossed her arms

"No, but... the redhead, we... I guess you could say we know each other" I answered watching her face become filled with surprise. Before she asked how I did, I continued "I don't even know how many years ago it was now, but it was a few years before I showed up to the school for the first time, to give you some perspective" I halted to think of the events that Bonnie and I went through "I remember when I was in my second group, there was another group we were running from. I've told you about them before, but I never mentioned Bonnie. But when the other group finally caught up to us, Bonnie was there, in the group we were running from"

"So you're saying these people are untrustworthy" Violet simply stated

"Uh... Not particularly" I said making one of Violet's eyebrows raise "Let me explain. Bonnie was a huge help in helping us escape Carver's camp" She wore a confused face for a couple of brief seconds trying to remember the name Carver "When I set up the PA system, she got my group ready to escape. But later along the line when almost all of our group was dead and gone, she left with two others, that I can't quite remember the names of, but I know one of them shot me in the shoulder, and she took the remainder of our supplies"

"What a skank" Violet commented with a minor sour expression

"Now I don't completely blame her for wanting to leave. After all, the other half of the group was trying to kill each other. But even after I got shot, she worried for me, which makes it possible for her to stay. I have no clue what happened after getting shot though. The next thing I remember about that situation was being in a truck with the three people that remained left of our group an unknown amount of time later" I finished the tale, waiting for a response

"So this Bonnie person has betrayed the two groups you know that she was in?" She asked as I nodded giving her an answer "Who's to say she won't do it again?"

"I'm split on kicking her back out or accepting her. Keep in mind she does have a family now" I told the truth about my thought process

She hmm'd thinking about what to decide. We both talked about it for ten minutes more before finally settling on the conclusion that she will only get one strike. "I guess we should go tell her the news?"

"That we should" I agreed, unhooking my walkie "Who's supervising our new guests?" I asked the radio system. It took a handful of seconds for a reply to make itself known but it did come

"Yeah, I'm still with them" The familiar voice of Felix rang out

"Is their tour done?" I asked curiously. Gesturing Violet to follow me to my office 

"Just. Need them or something?" He asked cutting to the chase. I confirmed his suspicions and asked for only Bonnie "Alrighty. I'll send her with someone else. Expect her in three" The radio clicked off so I put it back in its usual spot 

When we finally made it to my office, I put my knife on the desk and took a seat in the seat of power "Want me to stand by you or...?" Violet asked as I shrugged in response

"Whatever you want to do," I replied. In response, she stood by my right side. We didn't have to wait long for the doors to open back up to reveal Micheal, one of the woodworkers who helped rebuild this place

"Here to bring in, uh, Bonnie, ma'am" He announced and I replied with the permission to let her in. When he let her in and closed the door leaving the room behind, Bonnie had many expressions on her face

"Clementine? Is it actually you?" Is the first thing she asked with a somewhat saddened voice

"It is indeed" I replied as she awkwardly stood there "Sit, we have a couple of things we need to talk about"As she makes her way to one of the two seats in front of my desk she pleads 

"Clementine, I am so... so incredibly regretful for... well for what I did to you all that time ago. How I joined Mike and Arvo to almost leave you and the rest in the cold with no supplies, it was such a scumbag thing to do"

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you're regretful about it. But that still makes you a big threat to us, as from what I know about you, you've been in two groups. Both of which you have backstabbed" I stated watching her expression change to an understanding one

"I understand why you feel that way, Clementine. But please, please, don't kick us out. We can't go another month out there... I will try to make it up to you as best as I can, do anything you command me to do, just don't kick out my family" She begs as tears threaten to escape her eyes

"Calm down, calm down," I say in a reassuring tone "I'm not gonna kick you out," the words I say visibly make her calm down "But since we have had 'incidences', per se, you will only have one strike. And when and if you do make that strike, you will be kicked out. Your family will have a choice to go with you or to stay"

"Alright... alright, that's doable" She agreed nodding her head to the terms. It wasn't long until normal conversation began "I knew you would become something, just not something this significant"

"Should I be offended or pleased with that statement?" I asked watching the smile on her face falter a bit

"No! I didn't mean to come off as rude. It's just... surprising to say the least that we somehow, just somehow, have reunited after a decade or so" She elaborates her words

"I've learned it's kind of a small world" I reply with my own little smile

She looked to Violet and became visibly uncomfortable "Uh. Who exactly are you?"

"Oh me? I'm Clementine's soon to be wife and second in command, and from what she has told me, I don't like you. I'm only giving you a chance because I was persuaded to do so by the one and only" Violet answered in a moderately harsh tone, the future wife part making my heart skip a beat

"Again, I apologize to my greatest extent and will try to repay that large debt" She repeated her promises to the inflamed Violet

"What happened to Arvo and Mike?" I butted in before their conversation could escalate any further

Bonnie cleared her throat before speaking "Mike was killed many months after we separated from you. And Arvo was ripped open by walkers"

"I expected as much... Serves Arvo right... Though Mike wasn't that bad of a person" I commented, being asked a question in return

"What happened to Jane, Kenny, and the baby?" She asked in a sullen tone

It took me two or three seconds to start speaking the truth "Jane was murdered by Kenny after we thought AJ was killed by her. And... Kenny's death is all my fault. He died in a car crash, caused by my hand" Oh how I missed Kenny. He was practically another father for the couple of years that we were together for "But AJ, he's still alive. He does many chores around the place and is genuinely useful at most of everything"

A few silent seconds lets that information buzz around in her head. But before she could ask anything else "You're free to go. If you need any directions or information that's relevant, just ask someone. You will be heavily eyed for the first month here, as I've mentioned before. So don't screw up. And if you want a guide, best to ask now"

She thought briefly on the subject "I think we'll manage" Bonnie answered with a smile, standing up "Once again Clementine, thank you so much. I don't know if I'll be able to repay you, but I'll try my hardest to"

"Looking forward to that repayment. Adios" I say with a grin and a small wave. I watched her swiftly make it to the door and exit

I didn't even realize until Bonnie was long gone that Violet now stood behind me. The reason why I realized is because she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and whispered into my ear "Now... where were we?"

...

After the main events of that day occurred, and my hour of... fun, with Violet, the day sped up. Hour after hour, people were doing their jobs, and I made sure to see how the plans on expanding the farms and electricity were going. Great to say the least. But I couldn't for the life of me get that... I don't even know if it was a dream anymore, but I couldn't get it out of my mind. How it successfully predicted three events that had nothing to do with each other. But what the... the thing said to me, about magic. I thought it was silly to consider it, but when I was talking to it, it felt as real as real

"This isn't going to work" I mumbled to myself, once again in my office chair. The sun was setting and the door was locked. I was actually going to try magic, or make myself feel really stupid. Very likely the latter but... I've gotta try it just to prove it wrong

There was a blank sheet of paper laid across the barren desk. My goal was to move it without touching it "Clear your mind and... believe" I repeated the instructions that were given to me, thinking they were ridiculous

I closed my eyes as I started to clear my mind. Clearing my mind is a lot, lot harder to do than what I was expecting. I had to put aside my thoughts on our community, what happened today, AJ, my responsibilities, what I was doing just then, Violet, and had to cancel out any thoughts that would make their way to the forefront of my mind.

When I presumed that I couldn't clear my mind any further, I tried to believe that I could actually move that sheet of paper with my mind. Let me tell you, doing that feels extremely silly. This whole concept is silly, but there is no way to explain that conversation I had other than that it might've been real

I imagined the feeling of the paper, how heavy it was, its texture, and the motion that I wanted to move it in. I kept my eyes closed this entire procedure and after a few minutes of believing that I could move it, I started using my hands to pretend to have a grip from a distance. I have no clue how long I did this for, but when I finally gave up and reopened my eyes, it was dark out.

Not just dark. Pitch black. I got out of my seat and walked towards the window. I couldn't see a damn thing, it was like... that nothing... was actually... there

"I'm glad you tried to do magic after the first night I visited you. The other two are not yet convinced that I, myself, am real" I heard the familiar voice of the miss shaped human. I turned around slowly to see that she was indeed in the room with me. Now taking this seriously, I actually see just how scary looking this creature is and was slightly frozen. "It's way too dark in here, is it not?" She commented as she snapped her fingers on one of her lower arms. Which in return sprouted lights in sockets where lights used to be located before they were removed

"I..." I try to say something, only for my voice to fail me

"Yes, my appearance does give off that reaction when you realize that I'm real. Quite understandable" She commented on my silence with a casual tone

Though my voice was shaky, I could not afford to piss this thing off "I-I don't mean to offend, uh... miss?" I try getting her name. But surprisingly, she laughs a little bit

"Here Clementine, sit down, we can talk a little longer tonight. And don't be afraid of angering me. I haven't been angry in over two hundred years. And when you get to be my age and experience what it's like to be a freak of nature, you get used to it a few years in" She stated with a smile, waving one of her hands across the two chairs that were put in front of my desk. They became liquid, then gas, then that gas disappeared. In the place of those chairs, a blue crystal throne sprouted up. She took the seat and gestured me to sit "And for my name... the people call me all sorts of different things. God, the Great Unifier, the symbol of peace and unification, among many other titles. You, however... can call me, Elideynires. Where I'm from, it means Unity and Peace"I clear my throat and make my way over to my seat again 

"Elideynires? That's kind of a mouthful" I mindlessly commented, having a little more confidence in my voice "But there seems to be a common trend with all those names. Specifically peace and unity" I pointed out

"Yes. As I mentioned in our previous talk, I unified the world into one nation" She held up her upper left hand and a medium-sized flag quickly formed in it "This is the seven-hundred-year-old flag I designed that my world salutes" The flag's design was odd, to say the least. There was a giant white star in the middle surrounded by many other mini multicolored stars on a crimson red background "The giant white star represents the people. The mini stars represent technology, science, magic, math, and every other major development that makes my civilization great. The red represents the ludicrous amount of blood that was shed for the creation of this flag" 

"Interesting... extremely so, may I hold it?" I asked only for her to smile at my question

"Well, of course you can" Elideynires replied as the flag started floating towards me. I grabbed it when it was within reach and when I did, gravity must've realized it was fucking up

I felt the extremely soft fabric, dragging my hand across it, feeling that the stars poked out of it a bit "Doesn't unification only happen through war? And I reckon that's why the red's here"

"Well, half of unification involves war but you assume correctly. Are you ready for a crash course in history?" She asks with a smirk. I nodded, intrigued by the story to come "When I took control of the country that I was magicked up in, I had already lived there for around twenty years, and by that time, I was already known all across the world because I made many, many inventions, scientific discoveries, saved a handful of other world leaders lives, and through my quests all around the globe and the books I wrote and the art I made, I had a large portion of the population in my support. When I tarnished the ruler that was leading the country that I was made in for over five thousand years, there was a civil war. Loyalist against the Humanists. With the outside and inside help of people who were enemies with the then-current ruler, and great friends who I helped before, we all came together and we won after three years of fighting. Though in the middle of the war, the nation of griffons declared war on me. Backstabbed by one of my friends. Though that didn't stop me. When I won in the mainland, I continued my army's march to the griffon capital. They capitulated then and there. After the war, the nations that I was allied with in the north voted to unify into one nation. A combined death count of the war was over seven-hundred-thousand people. And with a world population as low as ninety million, a war that killed that many people was... revolutionary, so to say" 

"Holy shit..." I mumbled, holding the flag with more respect "Did you say griffons?"

"Indeed I did. My world is full of many sentient species, griffons being one of them. In fact, I harbor a piece of each sentient specie" She answered, looking at my more than interested face. A look of slight disappointment appeared on her face for but a second, only to vanish just as quickly. "Enough about me. I have such a long story that if you're interested, we can talk about it some more if you want in our next session" She announced as I handed the flag back to her. It instantly popped out of existence when she took hold of it 

"It's extremely interesting and I have so many questions it's insane. Is it weird that I want to know your story?" I asked with genuine curiosity

"Not at all. I've repeated my story to countless individuals. But there's so much that has to stay hidden. Only my closest friends, which are far and few, know what I'm hiding. It's just personal stories by the way. Stories that I wish no soul to know, for that would be far too traumatizing to them" Okay, well that's just a tad bit ominous. Before I could ask another question, she changed the subject "So let's talk about how you tried magic"

"Let's?" I asked with minute confusion

"You cleared your mind well enough. You just didn't believe hard enough. But that's okay, the hardest step is actually believing. Trust me when I say this, but when I started magic, it took me some time before I actually started believing in myself to do it"

"How long does it take to actually start doing magic?" I asked, hoping for a precise answer

"It varies widely from person to person. You could learn it tomorrow, or you could learn it never. All that it takes is will power and belief" Her robotic arm beeped again "It's time for me to go for we have run out of time once again. I will not be able to contact you in the coming days, but if you achieve the simplest forms of magic I will make time for you" She advised as she snapped one of her lower arms again making the room go pitch black "Now wake up. Wake up!"

My eyes shoot open once again as I quickly lifted my head off the desk that I passed out on, revealing Violet by my side with a tinge of tired eyes. "I was wondering what was taking you so long. There's no way I'm gonna allow you to sleep in here again, not after last time. Come on, let's go to bed" She coaxed with one of her hands out, the one that didn't have the keys. In the tired state that I was in, I quickly grabbed it and made our way to our bed, quickly going to sleep, wondering what the next day had ahead of us


	2. Chapter II - Presence

When I woke up from a dreamless sleep I couldn't really describe what I felt like. I could, however, describe how I felt physically; exhausted, warm, and a pair of arms wrapped around me. But mentally, I could not. My mind felt... off. I don't know if it was just placebo or something similar, but there was just something in my mind that seemed off. If I were to give it the best I got, I would describe it as... a presence. An extremely faint one that I could barely detect

It didn't take long for my mind to revert back to thinking about Elideynires though. You know that feeling when you believe something for all your life, only to have it disproven? That's what it felt like thinking about her

It felt like I was starting to go insane thinking about it. What if I actually was going insane? This thing has only been in my mind, or so far as I know, so what if I was turning into a schitz?

For now, at least, I put those ideas aside and focused on what we talked about. The flag and her rise to power. Extremely interesting and I have so many questions. I just want to talk to her now, for hours on end even, just to get to know her. Though that doesn't refrain from me still being doubtful of her existence. This is just a whole web that I never thought existed. If this magic she talks about and uses actually exists, when I achieve it, then and only then will that be the proof that I need to completely accept the fact that all that she's saying is true, actually happened, and exists

After thinking about the topic and enjoying the touch of Violet's arm for fifteen minutes, I pried myself from her grasp getting in return a few grunts of disappointment, but not fully waking her up. I swung my legs off the side of the bed and reach for the silver watch that was on the newly made nightstand

I read what it had to say "Seven sixteen" I mumbled, latching the watch on my wrist. I should wear this more often to show appreciation to AJ. It was a nice gift after all. But let me tell you, getting the time just right with the days was fucking torture. It took us at least a month but after trial and error and days tweaking and calibrating, we achieved the ability to tell time to the day back up and running

I yawned, stretched, and stood up, doing the repetitive motion of walking towards our wardrobe and picking from our limited clothing choices. I chose the bright orange outfit that I rarely use. Why does Violet like to tease me about my name? Guess I just have to repay this giant debt sooner or later by making fun of hers

But yes, she made me orange pants and an orange shirt because why not? It kind of looked like a prison jumpsuit just more formal and for casual use. It wasn't until after the fact that I put my clothes on did I remember that I desperately needed to take a shower. Now the showers weren't that great. Not just yet as we had no soap. Though we do have someone who knows how to make it, we just don't have the materials. It involves like animal fats or something, I don't know, I'm not a soaptologists. But in order to have a stable supply of soap, she said we needed much more livestock. So I really needed to move growing our cattle and sheep population up the priority list. The thought of soap was a relaxing one

"You're finally wearing it I see" I heard Violet's cute raspy morning voice from behind me. I turned around so I could make talking to her normal

"Yes, but sadly I need to take it right back off because I'm in dire need of a shower," I said turning back to the wardrobe and took a towel

"That reminds me that I also need to take a shower. Mind if I join you?" She asked getting up and doing her own stretches

"Not particularly. Just don't touch me as much as you usually do" I answered trying to hide a smile. It's not like I disliked her doing it... but maybe I enjoyed it a little too much

"Ugh, fine" She replied taking her own extra set of clean clothes and a towel

After a decently long shower of rubbing, (if you know what I mean) trying to get as clean as we could, and brushing our teeth, we finally got out. Once again, we don't have the materials just yet to make a type of toothpaste, but we still needed to get the shit off that forms on our teeth

Now that we were wide awake we thought about what we were going to do today

"I guess it's my turn to be the boss" Violet commented while we were once again walking towards the courtyard doors feeling clean

"Indeed it is, though, that doesn't mean I don't have anything to do. I have to check in with the new folk and assign them jobs. Then maybe go on down to the farms again and help them harvest the grain"

"In those clothes?" She eyed them, presumably not wanting them to go through farmwork

"Of course not. But that's in a few hours from now. Will you be there?" I asked genuinely curious

"Yeah, most likely. It's been a while since I've gotten myself to do some hard work. It's time to get my ass in gear again" She confirmed as we walked into the courtyard

"Looking forward to seeing that ass move" I teased trying to fluster her, only for it to backfire miserably

"You know, you could just ask..." She said as her finger trailed my cheek and along my chin until it disconnected as she walked off leaving me the one flustered

"Damn she is good at that! I will never learn!" I internally curse myself for being so easily flustered. Not wanting to draw any attention to my tomatoed face standing in the entryway to the dorms, I cleared my throat and calmed myself. On to find our new guests. I unhooked my walkie and used it to ask "Does anyone know which dorm the new folk were put in?"

As per usual, it took a few seconds for a reply to make itself known from the silence "Yeah, I put them in dorm 803" the voice of Felix answered

"Is anyone near their location capable of bringing them to my office? I need to hire them into a job that would fit their liking. Or if they don't like any in particular, well, they'll just have to deal with the job I give them" I announced using a hint of my stern leader voice Violet likes so much... I swear I could hear her making an excited sound in the distance. Must just be my mind

"Yeah sure, I'll do that" Felix replied. I thanked him and headed to my office

When I got to the designated area, I took my seat behind the desk and pulled open one of the drawers and took out a sheet of paper and a pen. The sheet of paper held all the information of the occupations and names of who was in that occupation. I scanned over the sheet seeing which job they could take a role in. There is one place on the smeltery, the farms could always use some extra hands...

Before I could think too hard on the subject matter a knock on the door drew my attention away from thinking about it "Come in" I cheerily announced, setting the sheet of paper on my barren desk. Felix opened the door and let the family inside first without saying a word then walking in himself. He closed the doors and stood guard just observing

"I'm sure you know why I brought you here today" I started off saying "Please, take a seat" I gestured to the seats in front of me, getting reminded of Elideynires melting them in that dream world

"We're excited somewhat to show our gratitude to this place," Liam said as he took the seat to my right

"And we couldn't be more thankful and grateful that you've given us a chance. It's time for us to show it" Bonnie continued their praise taking the seat on the other side. I noticed that their child was missing

"Where's your son?" I asked curiously, double-checking if he actually wasn't there

"He's playing with the other children. I hope you don't mind, he just hasn't met any children his age in a very long time" Bonnie answered with a hint of sadness lingering in her voice

I nodded at her reasons "I remember doing that with AJ when we first got here. There was a kid around his age, they seemed to get along so well. A real shame he isn't with us here any longer" I commented, thinking about the early days. Before I could think too long on that subject, I interrupted my thought process "Now on to what you two will be working as" I announced as I retook the sheet of paper on my desk. I described what was in the sheet of paper and handed it to them

They looked it over for a few seconds as they both quickly came to their own conclusions. Bonnie decided to speak first. "As much as I don't like working in a field, I see that it's a little understaffed, and I know it's the most important aspect of this place"

I nodded at her statements and looked toward Liam "I guess I could work in the smelter and all the professions that fall under it. I've got experience in that area"

I also nodded at his choice and took the sheet back and placed it back on my desk "That's exactly what I was thinking. I'll start you guys up in a little bit. I just need to ask you a few more questions" I stated, getting their go aheads "Where were you before this place?"

They glanced at each other before answering "We were on the road for a very long time. We might've been on it for around two years if I were to guess? Anyway, before that, we did live in another community. But I'm sure you know how that goes" Liam sullenly answered

I nodded my head, relating to the situation "I promise we'll try our best to keep this a safe haven until the end of time" I tried reassuring them as I began to ask them another question "So is Logan your guys' child or someone else's'?"

"He's all ours. When we thought we could finally make something with our lives, we had him. It was a couple of years before the community we were in fell" Bonnie answered with a sigh "I feel so bad for bringing him into this world... if we knew what was to come, we probably wouldn't have done so. But that doesn't take away that we love him very much. I hope with this place, he can grow up to have a decent life"

I hope so too "What is Logan capable of doing?" I asked eager to know his capabilities.

"Well, he knows how to survive out on the road. But I don't see how those skills could be that useful while he's here, unless you want him to teach the other children his age" Bonnie replied after some thought "But he can't read. We thought it was unnecessary while out there. Not only that, but we didn't have the time either." She added on

"We have a few children here who are learning to read. Would you like to sign him up? The lessons also include many more skills, like tying, weapon training and handlement, and many more subjects" I suggested, watching their faces light up

"Absolutely!" They both cheered almost instantly

I nodded "How long were you in that community for? What was its name? What caused it to fall? How big was it?" I shot question after question, wanting to get as much information as I could out of them, but a thought hit my mind "If you don't want to open up to us to tell that information just yet, I'll understand"

"No, no, it's fine. Answering your questions is probably the best thing we could be doing at the moment" Liam insisted as he started answering the questions "Let's see, it was named Ashlington. Bonnie and I lived there for around three years before it was taken out. It was a big community, probably triple the size of this one. And it was a mix of walkers, raiders, corruption, and unreadiness that took it out. We knew about the unreadiness, but we stayed because there was nowhere else to go. A lot of people died that day. There was also a lot of others that escaped but I wouldn't have a clue how many are still alive"

"How I knew that all too well" I commented "Well, you don't need to worry about us being unprepared or any type of corruption as both of those things are extremely untolerated" I always thought about how much bigger Violentine was going to get. With two pregnancies and a few people coming in every month, we're gonna have to start building new dorms soon. And God knows that will be a challenge and a half

"Here's to hoping. Any more questions?" Bonnie asked a little anxiously

"None that I can think of now. Are you guys ready for your first day or do you need to prepare for your coming job?" I asked doing the familiar motion of unhooking my walkie, ready to call in

They glanced at each other for a couple of swift seconds "I don't think we need to, go ahead" Liam informed

"Melissa, Mark, heads up, you have new recruitments heading your way. Make sure you give them the rundown and answer their questions if they have any" I announced to the ones in charge of their occupations. I received their affirmatives in the following seconds, placing my walkie on my desk "They should be meeting you guys in the courtyard. Liam shouldn't have to go far, but if they aren't there to meet up with you, come back here and I'll make sure to put a strong talking to them on my agenda" I added on as they got up "Oh, and one last thing, if you want a change in occupation because the one you chose isn't for you, make sure you change it in a week, otherwise you'll be locked with the one you chose"

They gave me their words of gratefulness once again and made their way to their designated area. Once they left I returned to an informal posture as I had been holding a formal one that entire conversation. I grabbed the sheet of paper and wrote their names on it where they belonged before placing it back in the drawer I left open. I leaned back in my chair and lifted my wrist to read what the time was It was almost eight in the morning

I picked up the walkie again and asked Melissa when the harvest was "At noon" she stated simply

Hmm, what could I do for four hours without getting into too much trouble, as I really didn't have anything lined up today surprisingly. I sat there in silence for a few seconds, looking at the bookshelf that was implemented not too long ago holding a few books. I felt that presence I detected when I woke up again making me think. I hmm'd as a thought hit me

I reopened the drawer holding the vast amount of paper I had, took out a fresh sheet, and titled it; Elideynires. She just couldn't get out of my head as she told me so much information that I felt as I needed to write down what she has told me. I wrote down what she looked like and the brief small history lesson she told me. I drew the flag she designed and showed me and began to write what all the aspects stand for. Right when I was writing down what the red stood for, I got a knock on my door. I flipped the paper upside down and answered the door with the repetitive phrase of 'come in'

When the doors opened, on walked in my beautiful girlfriend "You know you don't need to knock, right?" Though I guess in this instance it was a good thing she did. Don't need anyone to think that I'm insane... just yet, well even more so by now

She shrugged "Eh, I know. Just a habit now, I guess" she walked up with a smile "So I was thinking... that we should go to the bell tower later tonight. I know it seems a little early, but we don't really know when our anniversary is coming, it could be any day"

I didn't even have to think, I just instantly agreed getting up on my feet "Yeah, that sounds like a good way to spend that time. Probably the best way to spend time. I miss spending time up there together" I stated, thinking about our first time up there together. It always gave me a feeling of nostalgia

As I approached her, she surprised hugged me around the shoulders making me make a faint squeak causing her to giggle "I miss spending time up there as well, even though it barely resembles what it looked like the first time we were up there"

"A little bit of a shame, but it's still one of my favorite places to be" I commented, Violet agreeing with a 'me too'. When I separated from the hug I asked: "Anything special happen or anything I should know about the state of Violentine?"

"It still kind of teases me that they named the school that" Violet commented "But no, not particularly. Except that the smelters have finished their request of ten wind turbines last night and that they're gonna start testing them tomorrow"

"Oh come on, you've gotta admit, Violentine does have a great ring to it, and it does kind of sound sexy" My voice lingered a bit on the last word

"I mean... I guess, but only because your name is in the second half. Otherwise, if it wasn't there, it would be bleh"

I rolled my eyes "You know that's a blatant false lie. Because you are beyond beautiful"

"What? Oh, I know I'm beautiful. I just meant it wouldn't be as great if your name wasn't in it" A sly grin appeared on her face as a light blush appeared on mine

Okay, that was a good one, gotta admit. I chuckled and kissed her quickly "You dork" I turned around and quickly put the sheet of paper I was writing on inside my desk

While I was doing said action, she only looked at it for a brief second. She didn't seem to care enough to ask about it though (Somewhat thankfully) and instead said: "Even after all these years, I'm still able to fluster you, so if my logic is correct, it is you who is the dork, you dweeb!"

"Oh is that so?" She nodded in confidence "Well, you can believe that, I'll just tell you right now that you're wrong" I said walking towards the bookshelf

"B-" "Sh" I cut her off "I'm going to read one of these books that I've never read" I looked at the half-full bookshelf and read the titles. There were some history books, but that didn't really intrigue me that much. After all, history pretty much is people rise, then they fall

"You're gonna read one of those?" Violet asked with minor interest "What for?"

"I dunno, they've been here for a while now, and what else am I supposed to do until noon?"

"I mean, I could think of something else for us to do..." She trailed off when she saw my raised eyebrow. Not because I was confused, just a little... I dunno, unready for that suggestion I guess

"Until noon?" I asked taking a random book off the shelf and taking a seat on the black lubseat that was located five feet to the left of the bookcase

"Well, if you're up for the challenge, I really wouldn't mind," She said in a sultry tone as she walked over to me and took a seat right next to my position

"Bah" I replied as I began to read the book I chose. Let me tell you, Violet is one persistent person. Not that I don't like it, I actually find it quite... attractive, but I barely got through the first few pages before she started saying things and touching certain areas that got to me quickly

I probably shouldn't like it or allow it, but I mean... I did. But when she was really starting to push me to my tipping point, to the point of no return, the doors slammed open and marched in a somewhat ecstatic Louis

Now, when this happened, Violet was basically straddling my thighs while she was on my lap. But when those doors came open she practically jumped off me and landed right next to the free space on the furniture

He looked at us for a couple of seconds, giving us the look. Not a disappointed look but a look that just screamed 'I know what you two were just doing' with the faintest hints of a grin. But after that quick look, he placed a piece of paper he was holding on my desk. After that he pretended to tip a hat he didn't have and made his way out of my office, closing the doors behind him

"Fucking Louis..." Violet muttered walking to the doors and locking them, then turning and locking eyes with me as she walked towards me "Now, where were we again?"

...

After a couple of hours of lollygagging and generally wasting time, I finally decided to look at the paper Louis dropped off a couple of hours ago. I gave up on reading that book as I really wasn't interested in fiction stories to begin with. Violet was long gone to do... what she does after she satisfied her strong craving of fruit (Yes, I actually just wrote that, forgive me God, Lee, and everyone else above)

Picking up the paper I began to read. Y'know, ever since Louis unfortunately lost his tongue, he's become really active in research and product making/finding, as he's a scavenger. The note talked about the scrap metal we collect from the only nearby town being depleted. But he told me not to worry as he had devised a plan. A... mine? He wanted to start a mine. He claims to have found iron ore veins while scavenging. He found them with the help of previous plans that the town was making before everything collapsed. The papers claim that a large amount of resources were nearby and were starting to fund a mine. But before they could, the apocalypse happened. He wants permission to start a mine where there would have been one (If it turns out there is actually iron there in the first place) And he went on about mining other materials such as copper, tungsten, coal, and a few more materials that would actually be fantastic to have. He then went on about how we could use these materials. Reinforcing our walls and armor with fresh and stronger iron, making our own electrical wires, maybe even testing out our own light bulbs, as the few that we have are depleting at a steady pace, and many more vital things that would be nice and useful for the coming years. Damn, he really has been doing his research. I couldn't even explain half the stuff on the two, yes I said two, sheets of paper that had both sides of them full to the brim with text. I'm actually very proud of him

"Good shit Louis. Let's hope that you're correct on this" I spoke to myself reading the time on my wrist "Ten thirty-seven. Damn time is going slow today" I put down my arms and leaned back in the seat, looking at the ceiling. I pondered what I could do for the coming hour. I remembered the sheet of paper I started making and decided to finish it. The flag I drew wasn't pitch-perfect to the actual, but it was close enough, to where you could tell what is was at least. Shame we don't have colored pencils or else I would have colored the flag

"She said magic could take... well from today to never to even start it..." I sighed and readied myself for the clearing of my mind. Roughly the same amount of time as last time, I cleared my mind to the best of my ability and believed in myself repeating the actions of imagining the paper moving, the feeling of it, believing that I could move it without touching it. I did this for probably ten minutes before I opened my eyes to reveal that nothing has changed. And kind of unfortunately I wasn't going to be speaking with Elideynires as I could see that it was midday outside

I humphed doubting myself, and even the whole concept for a few seconds, but I stopped myself. If I could actually do magic, then I would have to stop being doubtful after every failed attempt or else it will never come to me. Or at least that what I thought. After all, it does make a certain type of sense

I looked at my watch again. It was almost eleven o'clock. Tired of being in my office, I collected all my gear and made my way out of my office and to my room. I changed to an attire suitable for farming and then made my way to the courtyard. After a few greetings and small talk, I trudged my way to the stable that housed Sven. When I got there, around eight folks were preparing to harvest the grain fields, including Bonnie. Guess they have to teach her fast, unless she already knows how to harvest and all that, I dunno, I'm not a doctor

"Well you're here a little early" Melissa announced from behind me as I walked up to the barn

"I'm not here for the harvest, not just yet. I'm here to take Sven for a run. We all know he's been cooped up for too long. He is completely over the sickness, right?" I asked making my way to the open barn doors

"Oh yes, he has returned to pristine health. And yes, he has been cooped up for too long, He's starting to get a little roughty" Right when she said that Sven saw me and started getting jumpy

"I can see that" I said with a smile, walking up next to him and opening the stable door. I quickly used the stirrups to mount Sven "Thank you Melissa, so much for nursing him back to health" I said with gratefulness lining my tone

"Absolutely. I couldn't see myself not helping. I'm glad I was as persistent as I was when I just had a feeling that he was getting sick, or he may not even be here with us" She stayed on the side of the open barn doors, so when I was to shoot out, I wouldn't be hitting anyone

"And I'm glad you were as well" We nodded at each other with mutual respect and I jabbed Sven in his sides to get him going making the iconic sound of "Hyah!"

We bolted out of the barn missing and dodging any obstacle on the way out thankfully. He started running the dirt trail that went to the river and trailed alongside it, the farms on the left lining up with it while the river was on the other side. As he ran, I looked at the crops slightly There was a lot, but that only meant more food, less problems, and maybe even more people. Only to make the farms bigger and rinse and repeat

I saw one of our fishing nodes on the other side of the river. Two people fishing away with iron spears we made. They seemed to have two baskets full of fresh fish ready to be scaled and cooked. 'Good work' I mentally said to them as Sven started coming close to the left turn on the dirt path to circle back again. I helped him turn when the time came and started running for a minute to only make another left turn to run back to where we started from. Now I saw our many more crops. I really wanted to make sure that we wouldn't run out of food, and when we discovered that this flat area of land is extremely fertile, we were ecstatic. Yes, watering them is sometimes a pain, and all the harvesting... but holy shit, it's saved us from starving so many times. And also, every time we harvest the crops, we have to swap the positions of each crops so that the land will stay fertile

Sven ran for a few more laps until we started to slow down from him starting to get winded. Thankfully, we started slowing down near the barn. I looked at my watch. It was just passed eleven-thirty now. Guess I should start getting ready to harvest the grain. So that's what I did. I put the exhausted Sven back in his sizable stable, made sure he had water and food, and made my way into the farmhouse

As we prepared to harvest, we got our tools, the main one being the grain cradle, fast, compared to other tools, for harvesting grain and makes it simple. We also had about three cattle pulling carts so when we harvest, we could just put the grain in the carts. One person would cut, the other would collect

When we started harvesting, we were all side by side. It was quite a large field so there was still room to my right where we'll have to circle back. A few minutes after we began our conquest, low and behold Violet showed up. Late, y'know, as she does, but it's better late than never. She took one of the remaining grain cradles and took up the position next to me. I purposely went slower until she finally met up with me, then

She grunted when we made eye contact "This is so much fucking work!"

A man by the name of Jonathan chuckled "Grain's about one of the easiest crops to harvest. You don't have to pull anything out of the ground, ma'am. That requires to get on your knees, pull, and use your back. Quite exhausting." He got agreeance from the other farmers

"Well I guess now I don't have much to complain about" Violet replied defeated at the more than valid point

"Get that ass moving so we can finish this as soon as possible" I barked an order at her as I slightly picked up my speed

"You just wanna see me sway my-"

"Get a room!" A black folk named Jasmine jokingly called out, startling the both of us, making all but Violet and I laugh. She was actually flustered for once! It may not be as bad as I get, but she still showed it. And here I thought she was shameless

We continued the harvest for around an hour, some people joining then leaving, small talk, more complaining by Violet, you know, the usual.

"I got it, I got it, I got it!" Bonnie cheered as she swung for the last time clearing the field of grain. The remains of the grain being put into the carts. We had to dump them into the mill a couple of times but we managed to get most of the grain. I can't wait to finally eat bread again. It's been too long since we've had any in stock

We quickly put up the tools and animals we used and took a break. They discussed when they should plant the winter wheat and when to process the spring wheat. I decided to let them do the choices because they're the professionals, I was just there to help

That pretty much summed up that day. Nothing really eventful happened afterward except for one thing. Besides a few more minor chores, I was told that the engineers were putting up the wind turbines tomorrow, so that's something to look forward to. Let's hope all goes well

...

Violet and I made our way to the belltower about seven hours after the harvest. The sun was starting to set and the stars were starting to make themselves known. Every time I looked at them I get mesmerized in more than just one way. First that they're gigantic masses that look puny, but they also always remind me of the best night of my life

Violet had a hold of me by my hand, walking at a brisk pace, forcing me to speed up just a bit

"Slow down Violet, I'm sure the belltower isn't going anywhere" I chuckled, my attempts of getting her to slow down succeeding as she slowed her pace

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Though this was about the time when we first shared our first kiss so I guess I just didn't want to be late" She explained as we approached the belltower door.

Ever since that night, we built a staircase and made everything look nice. Which is great in two ways as it's no longer dangerous as we needed to climb up the then broken walls every time before the stairs were built and it's become aesthetically pleasing

We made our way up the stairs and quickly found the spot that we were on all those years ago. The pavement was slightly fixed and there was a fence on the opposite side of where our spot was, thankfully not obstructing it

We took a seat and I instantly wrapped my arms around her one of shoulders and torso as I laid my head on her shoulder. In return, she put an arm around my shoulder holding me closer

We both looked at the faint stars and the beautiful dusk sky just thinking, enjoying a few minutes of the peaceful and nearly silent moment in eachother's arms, the only noise being the ambiance of the quiet courtyard. It took a few more minutes for Violet to say something breaking the silence "I can't believe it's been five years" Violet said with disbelief outlining her tone "And we, a large portion of it was you, managed to build a great self-sustaining community. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like if we didn't decide to help you when you crashed your car" I looked up at her to see that she was watching the courtyard close for the day "But it was the best decision we ever made. We all probably would be dead by now if you hadn't decided to come back to our sorry asses. And it was an even greater decision to fall in love with you. I couldn't be more thankful and happy to have you. I love you so much" She stated as she looked down at me

No matter how long I'll be with Violet, my heart will still skip beats, my stomach flips, and my mind going blank from what a sight she is. "Believe it or not, without you here by my side, I wouldn't have been able to do such a thing. So you need to give yourself more credit. But still, I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I hadn't met you. And the mere thought kills me inside. I'm so glad I decided to come back and fall in love with you... I do every damn day" I said as tears threatened to escape me

She pulled me in a little closer and put a hand on my cheek as she started to kiss me tenderly. When we broke apart from the long-lasting kiss she smiled and rested her forehead on mine "Happy fifth anniversary, the love of my life"

We stayed there in each other's arms, looking at the stars and enjoying each other's company for... maybe an hour. As the night made itself more clear, as well with the stars, we saw the constellations we made that night so long ago. I almost fell asleep up there in the warmth of her arms but she woke me up before I had the chance to fully succumb to sleep

"Maybe we should get to bed, hm?" She suggested, coaxing me to get up by lightly starting to unravel the hug we were in

I sighed but knew that we couldn't stay up there, even though I really wanted to. So we got up and headed to our bedroom, only to fall asleep shortly after we arrived there

...

My eyes shot open. It was close to pitch black. I thought I was about to talk to Elideynires again, but I was proven wrong when I looked out the window to see a full moon

I felt extremely off. You know that feeling you get when someone's behind you, watching you from afar, and when someone is just about to touch you? That's what I felt all at once. And I felt... something inside of my head. It didn't hurt though. It just felt like something was there. Laying on top of the back of my brain. It was slightly uncomfortable and kept making me fidget. Eventually, I unhooked my arms from around Violet and got out of our bed. I took my watch off the nightstand and was barely able to read the time in the dim lighting "Three-thirty?" I asked myself. What the hell was I doing up at that time?

I set it back down and started rubbing my head with both of my hands. Then I started rubbing harder as the feeling became more uncomfortable. I started grunting at how uncomfortable the feeling was becoming and started to become tipsy. My movements must've woke up Violet because I heard her voice call out

"Clem...?" For some unknown reason, that seemed to lighten the feeling just a tad. But its presence was still strongly there

I took a deep breath and put my hands down trying to collect my thoughts. I cleared my throat slightly "Uh, yeah?" I awkwardly said, seeing her struggle to see through the darkness

"What are you doing up at this time? And... what were you doing?" She rolled over and sat up

"Uh..." I tried to say "I honestly don't know" I took a seat on the bed and put my head in my hands

"Are you alright?" My caring girlfriend asked as she sat up and wrapped an arm around my shoulder

"I... don't know" I replied lifting my face out of my hands and rubbing my head lightly

"Does your head hurt? Is it a migraine or something similar?"

"Maybe... It... it's not painful though. Just extremely uncomfortable" There wasn't a trace of exhaustion in me at this point so I got back up and walked to the door

"Where are you going?" Violet asked as she started to get up herself

"I-I'll be right back. I just... need to go to the bathroom real quick" I lied, not even waiting for a reply to exit the room. I felt really bad about doing that, but I just needed to be somewhere else without someone worrying about me at the moment

When I went to sleep, I did so with clothing on because I was too bothered to take them off, so I wouldn't be seen almost naked shuffling through the halls even if someone was up. I swiftly made it to my office and took a seat in the familiar piece of furniture. I put both of my hands on my skull and took some deep breaths, hoping it would soothe the discomfort. I started breathing heavier and heavier. A lot of things were on my mind. Elideynires, the future of our community, the concept of magic, and even random things like bread

"I need to stop thinking about things, that's probably just making it worse" I struggled to say out loud through struggled breaths. So I started clearing my mind to see if that would work. Which surprisingly, when I started to do so, the discomfort slightly subsided. I cleared my mind just a little bit more and the same effect happened

I took a breath of relief when the discomfort was the equivalent of that of yesterday morning. A slight presence still lingered, but I could finally focus. I put a hand to my forehead to feel that it had a layer of sweat. I had a minor face of disgust and wiped it on my pants, then used my sleeves to wipe my brow

"What the fuck was that?" I asked no one referring to the great discomfort. But the more I thought about more things, the more did that discomfort reappear "Oh just great, am I losing my mental capacity?" I wouldn't be completely surprised if that were the case...

And so I cleared my mind again, making the feeling subside once more. I sighed in stress, feeling a sense of hopelessness wash over me before a chilling thought hit me "...My mind's forcing itself to be clear... which is... the first step to learning magic..."

My heart was pounding, I heard the blood flowing through me, and when I saw one of the pieces of paper Louis left for me on my desk that I didn't bother with putting away, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. For some strange reason, it was much easier to... just imagine the aspects of the material and that I wanted to move it. And so I thought about flicking it across the room. I used my right index finger and middle finger and used them to do a flick motion as I imagined the sheet to be pushed with force

My heart was beating out of my chest, the pressure in my head was... expanding, but it wasn't getting more uncomfortable. No, it became a tingling sensation that was traveling like a wave around my brain slowly. It became numbing, but I powered through the sensation believing, believing as hard as I could

And...

It felt like... something popped inside with my brain, causing an electric type feeling quickly bolting to every single nerve in my body

And in that second, it felt like I knew everything

The sheet of paper flew off my desk so fast that I could hear the air whirl around it, and hit the far side of the wall, falling to the floor

I opened my eyes shakingly to reveal that yes, the paper was in fact on the other side of the room

"Holy shit..." I mumbled with disbelief before I realized how I felt. I don't really know how to describe it but... extremely orgasmic. Every limb in my body felt tired and energetic at the same time. I stood on my feet only to fall and sit on the ground. I took a few deep breaths, relieved that I could think about stuff without being extremely uncomfortable. My brain started to actually feel kind of like when you would lose a tooth when you were a child where the epicenter of the discomfort was

After a minute of recuperating, I tried standing back on my feet. I used the desk to help get me up and steady myself. For some reason, I just couldn't get myself to stand up properly. Without the help of keeping myself up, which was using a lot of my rapidly depleting energy. I started seeing small white flashes in my eyes. Then more and more. I started smelling... burnt hair, then my hearing started going out as I heard my office doors slam open

I look towards the doors to see Violet and... a couple of other people I couldn't make out due to my vision failing on me "V-Viole...?" I asked as I fell to the ground with a thud and passed out

...

I found myself once again in a pitch-black nothingness. My mind felt warm and a soft tingling sensation gently buzzed around in my head. It took me a few seconds to realize where exactly I was and when I did realize "Elideynires?" I called out to the void, hearing my voice echo many times. A response didn't come though, so I was just left there in an empty nothingness. I started walking in a random direction with one of my arms slightly out just in case an invisible wall or something was close

I walked for minutes on end, wondering if anything would happen "...Now am I dead?" I quietly said. A somewhat bone-chilling giggle reverberated around the void, making my heart skip a few beats "Okay... well, that was extremely creepy" I replied, my nerves starting to get to me. I took a few deep breaths and thought for a few seconds "Did I actually use magic to move that sheet of paper...? What else would have caused it to move...?" I asked myself, a slight victorious grin appearing on my face before realizing that I was still stuck in the sea of blackness.

I hmm'd and thought. Well, this was the void I was in before I met Elideynires for the first time... I closed my eyes and imagined the white door I walked in originally. I focused my mind on that door and started walking a little bit. About thirty seconds later I ran into something. I opened my eyes to reveal the white door. A bigger grin grew on my face as I took hold of the golden doorknob and opened it. I walked into the room, barren of anyone being there. I called out her name one more time as I walked up to the couch that I was sat on previously

Then I heard light clapping behind me. I turned around to see the chimera wearing a happy smile

"Congratulations, Clementine. You have become the first person in your universe to achieve magic in modern times" She walked to her throne and planted herself on it "I am extremely proud of you, for you have learned magic within a couple of days, something that should take weeks to do. Personally, it took myself two weeks to even start magic. I'm sure you have many questions about many things. Please, take a seat and ask away, for I know the insides and outside of the physics and physiology of magic"

"I... just can't believe it's all real" I admitted, taking a seat on the couch that was located in front of her

"Technically you can, as you managed to find the doorway here. You are a super fast learner, which is quite intriguing. Though for the other two chosen ones, they are lacking. Disappointingly so" She looked at her robotic arm and took off the giant sickle part. She spawned a stone table in front of her and placed it on the table

"Uh... well first things first, what the hell was that feeling I had in my head? That was absolute hell" I asked eager to know just what could cause such discomfort

"That would be your mind making room for the ability of magic. For modern human brains are too primitive and unused to such an ability. It expanded your consciousness when the magic entered your system" I nodded at the answers. They made sense and she was the only thing I could get information from so I took it as the truth

"Did I pass out after it became one with me?" I somewhat oddly worded

She nodded "I wasn't expecting such an overload on your body. I guess humans have gone far too long without magic. What it did was overload your senses, causing you to pass out" She said and tacked on "Violet's worried about you. When she found you she was in a minor freak out attack. I don't want to add on anything else, or else they might be creeped out if I told you some of the information that I know"

"How do you even know anyway?" I asked genuinely curious. It was kind of freaky that she knew, not gonna lie

"I pick up the information from your subconscious. Don't worry, I never learn the stuff that's in your conscious that wants to be hidden... as has happened to me many times before" Well that explains a lot about how she knows about me. And it kind of worries me

"So what's the next step for magic?" I asked with my ears wide open thinking of the possibilities

"For now, practice in secrecy. Do not let anyone know or find out about your magic skills until your magic capabilities are much much stronger under any circumstance. At the moment, you only have the ability of weak telekinesis. Though for a beginner, how far you threw that paper was something I've never seen. Practice until you can move rocks. Then move to small boulders. Then I'll teach you how to do other types of magic" I felt a little more than proud to make her impressed

"How many types of magic is there?" I leaned back on the couch and made myself comfortable, enjoying the feeling I had in my head

"In the sense of types, three. Regular magic, Chaos magic, and Dark magic. I outlawed the practice of Chaos magic and heavily regulated Dark magic because both of them are extremely dangerous. But In the sense of abilities? Several thousand. Though when you get to a point, you will no longer need a teacher to teach you each one"

"How did you learn to do magic?" I asked wanting to know how experienced she is

She whistled slightly. "That was such a long time ago, let me think" She took a few seconds, rewinding presumably hundreds of years of experience "I had the teachings of great war lochs, ancient beings, liches, and spell slash magic books to guide me, around nine hundred and seventy years ago"

Holy shit she is old "How old are you? How did you manage to become this old? What's it like?" I asked a multi-question. She chuckled a wee bit

"One at a time young child" I'm not a child "I think I'm around... one thousand twenty-two years old, don't quote me on that though" Okay, old was an understatement. She's ancient "And the reason why I've gotten this old is because around a thousand years ago, a friend of mine was hypnotized, per se, and they tricked me into drinking a highly corrosive poison. I was put back together with magic, but since I was the only human on the planet at that time, they didn't know my anatomy or physiology. They used the life force of trees to put me back together, which in return gave me a few thousand years of life, changed my blood to sap, I can photosynthesize giving me a lot of energy, and the mishap combined all my organs into one massive one. I also digest and use everything meaning that food only enters me and never escapes me" So there's even more to her than what appears. I'm completely appalled at this being of magic "And for what it's like being this old... There's no way you get to be this age and not be a little insane. Especially when you go through some of the stuff I've gone through. But time goes extremely fast when you get to this age. It's actually kind of scary" She admitted

"Wow, this is so... cool" I said a little too loud. I heard her chuckle again

"I can see why you say that. Do you have any more questions?"

"I have so many questions it's kind of unreal. How much time do we have?"

"We actually have a lot of time. I could probably answer a dozen of your questions" As she said that I lined up some for her to answer

"Is it okay if you give me a rundown of how you became what you are?" This was the most burning question I had. She was just mesmerizing to look at

"Certainly. I'm surprised it took you this long to ask, though that shows that you give great respect, even to creatures like me" She took a deep breath, presumably remembering "So let's start with my head first. So my hair is a result of me being fused with tree DNA," She used her upper left hand to trail across the areas she was explaining "my grey skin is from cursed necrotic blood that made its way into my system, my horse ears are from a magical mage I pissed off because I thought it would have been funny, the minotaur horns were actually gained when I became the Great Unifier so I could represent their race," So they're minotaur horns... that's... amazing "my extra set of eyes are from a magically insane spider who bit me, which also gave me my extra set of arms, my fangs sprouted when I became the God of the naga, the gills on my neck are an ability I wanted so I could breathe underwater, my robotic arm is a replacement when the original one was cut off by accident with a cursed weapon. Now I expected this arm to grow back, because I have that ability, but the curse foiled it so I had to get this one" This is just ludicrous. It's very, very interesting to say the absolute least "These wings used to both be feathery ones. I got them both... maybe a couple months after I was magicked up. I received them when a young mare tried to cast a spell. It went horribly wrong and a wave of chaos magic hit me turning me into a pegasus. When I turned back, the wings stayed. Then maybe half a decade later, I got in a fight with a demon of fire, of which cut one of my wings turning it into a demonic one" She stopped to take a breath, chuckling a bit "I got my dragon tail from when I was turned into a dragon because I had to do some spy work, but when I turned back, the tail stayed. My leg was turned to a zebra's when an alchemist threw a potion at me, and finally, my gryphon's foot is from a curse that turned it into what it is"

I sat there quietly for a few seconds, thinking about what she's been through "Wow... you've lived quite a life" I pointed out somewhat speechlessly

"Indeed I have. There are so many details I haven't said because it would take literal weeks to go over. But keep in mind, this only took place in the first eighty or so years of my life. And after around two hundred, my life slowed down to a snail's pace. I haven't been as active as I was in the first forty years of my life then I have in the past four hundred. It's quite liberating"

"What was it like being changed from your original form?" I asked. I couldn't even start to imagine what it'd be like if even one of those things were to happen to me

She sighed and crossed her legs "The first five years after I was magicked up, I absolutely despised it. By that time I had already been changed eight times. I wanted to die, to kill myself. I hated the way I looked, what I went through, and how I felt. It was a very dark time. But a few friends helped me out of it, and as I kept changing, I just accepted it. Every time I changed I wore it with pride. Thank goodness for friends. Though I haven't changed in over eight hundred years or so, good riddance"

"...You keep saying magicked up. What does that mean exactly?" The wording seemed odd and strange. It actually kind of worried me for whatever reason

"I didn't tell you? Oh, how I feel slightly dumb right now. Get ready for your mind to be blown" She warned with sincerity "I am slash was a magical carbon copy of a human that lived millions of years ago created by the God of Chaos that I eventually killed"

What the hell. This changes the entire... story "Uh... I... am just speechless" I laughed for a quick second after that statement

"Once again, completely understandable. Mind if I go on a tangent to explain all of what I just said?" I eagerly nodded in response "The world I live in is the result of humans going extinct millions of years beforehand. But life reappeared because before humans died, they made technology to make many sentient species that then repopulated the Earth after they perished. The reason why the humans died in the first place is because the God of Chaos killed them with their own nukes, as well as many more sentient species before humans themselves. The reason being is because he wanted to die. And he could only do that if chaos no longer took place. And to do that, he needed to kill everyone so chaos would cease to exist, taking himself out in the process. Understandable that he wanted to die because he was alive for billions of years at that point, but it was still such a... unexplainable thing to do" She took a quick breath as I sat back up and leaned forward a little bit

"So he came up with a plan to kill himself that had a fifty-fifty chance of working. He summoned me in through a spell that a mare was testing, so it looked like it was just a magical accident the young mage did. Even though I was a carbon copy, I had all the memories that the original me had up to that point. It took us a few years to find out I was a copy when the God himself started to reveal himself once again. And then a little bit after that he spoke to me and a couple of other world leaders and confirmed that I was a copy. I felt extremely cheated, but what could I do?"

This was starting to give me a headache, all this information. Every time a question was answered three more would appear. I'd have to write this all down soon, whenever I woke up. I really don't want to forget and re-ask about certain things. Let's just hope no one finds where I'm gonna write this stuff down at

She sighed and stood up "You're about to wake up naturally, I can feel the magical grasp on your consciousness slipping. Just remember what I said, keep your magic a secret and keep practicing. Now that your mind has been integrated with magic, it will be much easier to do it" She picked up the sickle on the stone table and reattached it to her arm

"When's the next time we'll talk?" I asked, looking forward to the future conversation

"Very likely when I persuade the other two to believe that what I'm saying is true. They're being quite persistent to think that I'm not real, but they'll eventually come around if I keep talking to them" She replied and she snapped her fingers making everything once again turn pitch black "Now please, wake up. Wake up"


	3. Chapter III - Stengthen

I fluttered my eyes open to reveal a familiar bland white ceiling. I was wrapped with a blanket and I was almost completely naked. I was sweaty, which was pretty gross but what could I do? It's a good thing that it was at least daytime as it allowed me to see things, but I was really confused as to where my whereabouts were. I looked around and came to the quick conclusion that I was back in Violet's and I's room

My head felt light, as there was still a feeling that something was... I don't know, ripped or removed from my head, but without the pain. It was an odd feeling that I didn't have the words to describe

I tried calling out for anyone but my vocal cords failed me, as only coughs escaped as I realized just how dry my throat was, very likely from all the sweating. I slowly peeled the blanket off me and swung my legs over the side of the bed

My limbs were still in a minor state of being energetic and exhausted, but it's much tamer than compared to just a few hours ago. I snatched my watch and read the time, quickly placing it back down. It was around the time I usually got up, so I might as well do my morning routine. As I was putting on some normal and formal attire, the door opened and two people walked in

And of course, it was my beautiful family, so thankfully I was finished getting completely clothed right before they walked in. "You're awake!" AJ cheered as he quickly ran up to me to hug me. I smiled and hugged him back as Violet joined the hug

"Jesus Christ Clem, please don't scare us like that again" She pleaded as she rested her head on my shoulder

After a few seconds of the warm embrace, we broke apart and I asked through a croaky voice "What exactly happened?"

"We have no clue. When you left our room last night to go wherever I waited a few minutes for you to come back. But when you didn't the woriness took over me" Violet quickly started explaining as she took a breath "So I looked for you for several minutes and when I opened your office doors, you just... collapsed. I was freaking out and didn't know what to do. Thankfully Aasim was with me so I was able to move you back here. But strangely, your skin felt ridiculously cold"

"And you were talking crazy in your sleep" AJ added on making me just a little scared

"I wha-" I started coughing from the dryness. After a few coughs, I struggled to ask for any type of liquid that I could drink as the dryness became too much

"AJ, could you please go get something for your mother to drink?" Violet asked the young child. He happily agreed and exited the room "Here, you shouldn't stand. You were practically drenched in sweat when we carried you so you must be dehydrated" She then guided me to sit on the side of our bed taking a seat next to me when I did

Okay well, that was a gross detail I didn't need to know. I might as well take a shower after this talk as I didn't like the idea of previously being drenched in sweat

"But AJ was right. You were talking in your sleep. It was very odd as I've never heard you do that before, but what you were saying didn't make any sense" My heart dropped. I hope I didn't say anything too important "We could barely manage to make any words out through the mumbles. Only words like 'why' and a repetitive one that was like 'Elide...'. I don't know, we couldn't figure out what that word was. What were you dreaming about?" She asked with a minor look of concern

Oh, thank goodness I didn't give anything away in my sleep... But then I thought about lying about dreaming... I know it was something small, relatively speaking, to lie about it, but I haven't lied to Violet this many times in... ever if at all. It made my heart hurt, I didn't want to keep lying to the love of my life

Just before I could struggle to answer, AJ came in with a sizable cup of water. I gently took it from his hands and viscously downed the entire cup within seconds. I coughed a couple more times before I could finally speak with relative ease "You should have brought two cups" I laughed as he took the cup from me "Thank you"

"I'll get you some more" AJ replied as he made his way to do so

"You don't need-" It was too late, he was already out the door "Always has to be the gentleman" I commented with a small smile

Violet chuckled, "You should be thankful for that," she stated as she hooked an arm around my shoulder and pulled me in just a tad as I remembered the dream question

"If I had a dream, I can't remember it. The only thing I remember from last night is... waking up with my head feeling off" I answered as I felt the water entering my thirsty system

"That's odd. And slightly worrying. Actually, it's extremely worrying" Violet looked at me with fear in her eyes "What if it's a sign of an aneurysm? Or a type of cancer?" I saw the life in her eyes draining as she thought of the possibilities

"Violet, baby, Violet, stop," I asked, lightly putting both my hands on her shoulders and looking her in her beautiful eyes "I'm fine. My head no longer feels off and now that you're by my side, I couldn't feel better"

She sighed and hugged me "I hope you're right. I couldn't imagine a world without you..." her voice said with a small break

Before the conversation could get too depressing, AJ walked in. But when he saw us he started to backpedal slowly. When I saw him doing said action over Violet's shoulder, I pushed Violet away just a little bit "It's uh, fine AJ. Thanks for bringing me water" After I gave him the go-ahead he walked up to me and handed me the cup once more. That time though I drank it at a slow pace

Setting the cup on the nightstand I glanced at the time "I should probably be getting ready for the day..."

Violet pff'd "I'm not gonna allow you to do that. Not until tomorrow that is after what happened last night"

"But-"

"I know it's your turn to be the boss and everything, and trust me I don't want to boss you around like this nor be the person of power today, but I'm insisting this because I care about you and love you. Consider it a day off" She finished with a smile giving me another hug

I didn't really like the idea of having the day off for Violet to do all the responsibilities again but like I've mentioned before, Violet can be one persistent person "Are you sure?" I asked, knowing my witty attempt would fail

She quietly chuckled "One hundred percent" She confirmed as she tightened the hug a small bit

AJ decided, rightfully so, to join in again as he wrapped his arms, or tried to at least, the both of us

I will never get over this feeling. The feeling of being loved, in the warm embrace by their arms, knowing that these two people, the closest people to me on the planet, would literally do anything for me as I would for them. I wanted to cry in their arms, happy tears, tears I've rarely cried before, but I didn't. Or at least I thought I didn't until

"Clem, are you crying?" Violet asked with concern in her voice, lightly starting to release from the hug

I stopped her before she could break apart from it by pulling her in. I let a couple of tears fall as I said with a smile, "I'm just realizing, once again, how much I love you two"

We shared the hug for a minute longer and after a few minutes of showing our affection to each other. After Violet surprised kissed me, quite hard, I'll have to scold her later for doing that in front of AJ, and bolted her way out of our room to do the leaderly responsibilities

I sat there, a blushing mess in front of our giggling child. I cleared my throat to address the situation and avoided eye contact with him "Sorry you had to see that AJ"

"You guys do that all the time though" He stated as his giggles subsided.

"Yeah but, not like that" He slightly raised a brow as I got up and gathered all my equipment by instinct.

"I thought Violet said she had everything under control?"

I looked at the walkie talkie in my hand and released a small sigh. Replaced by the faintest of smiles "I know, but if anything like an attack happens, I'll be ready for it" I replied hooking it to my side knowing that the chance of that happening was very small, but just in case, y'know?

He shrugged "I guess that makes sense. Where are you going?" AJ asked as he started following me out of my room

"Just to my office, I need to do a few things. I can do so without causing too much suspicion, right?" I asked with a grin as I looked over my shoulder when I entered the hallway

"Well of course. I just need to make sure you listen to Violet's words" He responded as he exited the room

I raised a brow at his statement looking forward "Like I would ever!" I replied, faking being offended "How come you always take Violet's side now? What happened to me?" I asked with a fake pout

He shifted his eyes and chuckled nervously "No reason"

"Uh-huh" I simply replied. He asked if he could stay with me, and of course, I said yes. I should spend more time with him but... being responsible for many things takes a lot of our time away. It makes me quite sad actually. But we spent so much time together rebuilding this place, just placing wood, painting, nailing... it wasn't that fun but it was sure a bonding experience

Now that I think about it, Violentine is in a state where I could take a few days off and everything would be running swell. So I should, no I will start making time for AJ. He's been wanting to learn how to ride a horse, so I could definitely teach him soon. That will be great fun

When I got to my office, I quickly made my way to the desk and grabbed out a sheet of paper from one of the drawers. The same sheet of paper that I wrote all the information I've been given by the four-eyed beast. Not wanting AJ to see what was contained on the paper I flipped it over. Well, I had to do that anyway because the other side was chock full and could no longer hold any more information

"What's that?" AJ asked curiously right after I flipped the paper

I stayed silent for a few quick seconds "It's nothing too important. Just something I write my dreams on" Not technically a lie, but there was still the small tinge of guilt

"What's the point of that? They're just dreams" AJ pondered with a raised brow

"It's just something I've always wanted to do. I just started doing it a couple of days ago. You know when you have a cool dream and want to remember it?" I asked AJ. He slightly shrugged and agreed somewhat "Plus, I've heard from someone that if you remember your dreams, you'll have a higher chance of lucid dreaming. Not sure if it's true or not, but that sounds cool" I added on

I took a seat and pulled out one of the many unused pens that we've collected over the years and started writing down all the information Elideynires told me our last talk, making sure AJ couldn't see what I was writing

"What's lucid dreaming?" AJ asked coming up to my desk. I might as well talk to him to keep his mind off what I was currently writing

As I continued to write down the boatload of information I was given, I explained to AJ what the concept of lucid dreaming was

"Yeah, that does sound pretty cool. What was your dream about? It must have been pretty interesting as you've almost written as much as you can on one page" He asked trying to look at what I was writing down

Now finished writing the stories she told me and the information I got from her about magic, I swiftly placed it back in a drawer and closed it "You don't want to know, trust me" I advised with a soft smile trying to shrug off his question

He raised a brow and crossed his arms and simply replied with "...Alright"

Before he could question me any further, I made a little suggestion "Hey AJ, you know how you've always wanted to ride a horse?" I figured now was the best time to teach him how to do so. And y'know, to avoid his interrogation. His face lit up with those words "I think now would be a great time to start learning how to do so"

His face lit up with excitement "Really?" I nodded in response with a smile "Finally! When, when!?"

Okay maybe excited was an understatement "Calm down" I advised with a chuckle and standing up "I reckon we can do it now, as I don't have anything of importance to do today" Right after I replied he bolted to the doors. I smiled and shook my head slightly, exiting the room with him

As we made it to the courtyard and to the gates, I turned back just a bit to see the freshly made wind turbines being implemented on top of the roof of the school. Wiring was being connected and placed down, ropes were being used to pull up the turbines, because keep in mind they're about one and a half times bigger than me, and blowtorches all alike were being used for the implementation. I should speak with Louis soon, to talk more about that mine as that would help with so many problems we're currently facing. I could probably help them with implementing the power sources...

"Mom?" I heard from beside me jarring my attention towards it

I turned back towards the exit "But yes, this would be much more fun and arguably more important thing to spend my time on" I said out loud starting to make our way toward Sven's stable

"How come you've always talked to yourself?" AJ randomly asked a couple of minutes into our march

Taken back just a tad by the question, I quickly formulated a response "Uh, well first of all when we were alone for many years, I guess talking to myself gave me a sense that we weren't so alone. And in some cases helped calm me down or helped me get through some situations. And I just never seemed to get rid of that habit. Why ask?" I asked genuinely curious. I mean I guess I could see why he asked, as it would be a strange sight to see someone talking to themselves almost all the time, but after all these years, the question finally got asked

He relayed a response similar to my thought process "I kinda find it humorous in a way, just seeing you look at certain things and saying your thoughts out loud"

"I see where you're coming from" I simply replied. We slowly, well as slow as AJ would let me, made our way to the barn and when we arrived he quickly made his way into the open barn "AJ, wait up!" I called out

When we approached my beloved steed he wasn't as excited as he usually is, which in this case was good. Can't have him too getsy for AJ's first time in riding a horse

"Now before I start teaching you how to ride a horse, today we're only going to learn the very basics, meaning we won't do that much today" I clarified opening Sven's stable grabbing his reins and slowly walking him out. AJ sighed a slight bit but understood that it made sense. "So first things first, you have to be very gentle with just about everything you do with a horse, to not startle them and or make them go out of control" I began the lecture of my knowledge on the subject, AJ listening extremely well. "I will now demonstrate how to do everything correctly" I announced putting one of my feet in the correct stirrup

"But I've seen you do it many times before" AJ pointed out a little too anxiously

I shook my head slightly with a soft smile "I know you've been waiting to do this for literal ages AJ, but you need to slow it down a little. It's a lot harder to ride a horse then you'd know, and just seeing others do it isn't enough to claim that you know" I lectured waiting for a reply

"Yeah, that makes sense..."

"So first thing's first, you need to mount the horse with confidence, with gentle ease, and yet a strength that asserts your dominance" I listed off doing just that, deftly mounting Sven. AJ crossed his arms and put a finger and a thumb to his chin soaking up all the information I was giving. "Always keep your back straight, never slouch, as it's to help keep your horse under control at all times. Gently grab the reins of the horse and do not ever forcefully yank them, as there should be no need to ever do so." I looked to my right as I grabbed the reins to make sure he was paying full attention only to reveal that he was doing more so. I nodded at his interest in the subject. "To move forward at a leisurely pace, gently jab your horse on the sides of their belly" I demonstrated by doing so, Sven now slowly starting to walk "To go left, gently pull the reins to the left as if you were opening a door, and to go right, do the exact same the opposite way"

I strolled around for a minute or two as I let AJ process the information "I think I get most of it," He stated as he uncrossed his arms

"Can you go over what I just told you?" I asked. He obliged and did so with relative ease. I nodded and walked up to him, getting off Sven and walking up next to AJ "Are you ready for this AJ?" I asked him. He nods in reply. I stepped away from Sven "It's all yours"

He took a deep breath and readied himself "You can do this AJ, you've been waiting for years. Then you can finally impress her with this"

"Her?" I thought as I saw him use the stirrups as somewhat threw himself over Sven, just enough force to mount him fully. I noted that he was just tall enough for his feet to rest in the stirrups thankfully as he gently took hold of the reins. I noticed something off about him... I cleared my throat as a hint which seemed to remind him instantly

"Oh," He said with a nervous chuckle as he straightened his posture. I nodded at him, he seemed to be doing everything correctly. He released a breath that he was holding and gently jabbed Sven's belly, which was a little faster than the pace I was going

"That's a little faster than how fast I was going" I pointed out, walking with them but lagging behind

"Oh, I pull the reins back like this right-"

"No!"

It was too late, Sven bolted forward making AJ grip the reins tighter only making the situation worse. I would have laughed at the situation if it wasn't serious, to be honest, but as it was my heart was racing and I had no clue what to do

"No don't pull it like that- pull it like-" I tried calling out to AJ but I don't think he heard me over the shock. Out of panic, I tried hand gesturing the movements to him and calling out as I was trying to get near them, but... something strange happened

Sven reared up and stopped for seemingly no reason. The same way he'd do if someone pulled the reins back the correct way. Just as I managed to make out AJ's shocked expression, I smelled burnt hair and saw a couple of white flashes in my vision...

"Uh- I think lesson's over for today?" AJ managed to call out in a stuttered voice

I shook my head after I put my hands on my head, taking a few deep breaths to... well, I don't know what my end goal was, but this... odd feeling slowly subsided and my limbs felt just a bit numb

"I'm sorry for disappointing you..." AJ commented on my behavior as he got off Sven and used the reins to pull him toward me

"I- You didn't disappoint me" I replied wiping my face after a cough as my vision and smell slowly returned to normal "Did I just do magic again...?" I thought

As AJ walked up to me and we made eye contact, a very odd expression made its way onto his face "Mom, your eye, it's..." He trailed off as he walked closer

"What?" I asked a little concerned as my blinking picked up

"...Nevermind. I swear I saw like... a flash or something, but it's gone now whatever it was. Maybe it was the Sun or something?"

Okay, what the hell. Those white flashes are visible to anyone?

He handed me the reins as soon as he was close enough and I started putting Sven back in his stable "Must've" I simply replied to the odd situation turning back to him. He wore a defeated expression as he looked at the horse "Don't feel too bad about yourself, after all, it was your first time. Just be glad that you didn't fall on your ass... like yours truly" I said to try to lighten up the mood. It worked as I watched a smile grow on his face

"Yeah, I guess you're right... too bad I wasn't there to see that" AJ commented with a smirk

I scoffed playfully "You wish. Violet wouldn't shut up about it for days. Jeez, she can be just... ugh sometimes, y'know?"

He raised a brow keeping the smirk "Isn't that why you love her though?"

I nodded with a smile "More than you, or anyone else for that matter could ever know" I thought for a few seconds thinking about where she was "There's no way I could live without it. I wonder where she's at anyway. Hopefully, she hasn't gotten herself into too much trouble" I pondered as I made my way out of the barn

"Knowing Violet... that's a long shot" He commented, a laugh shortly abrupting out of him

"You're right, it's too dangerous to not know what she's doing right now" I agreed gesturing him toward me "I'm gonna go find where she is. Feel free to walk with me back"

He quickly joined me in my excursion back home. In the middle of it though, he brought up an odd subject

"Mom?" He asked and waited for my attention. After he got it, he continued, "When I was on Sven and I didn't have control... this sounds crazy, but the reins they just... worked by themselves" He blushed at the statement

Maybe I did use magic again...? No, I did. All the signs, the messed up senses, and now him saying this to me, it's proof enough. But I have to keep this a secret... what's a good lie?

"You sure you just didn't pull the reins out of instinct? That moment was pretty hectic so it's possible that you just forgot" That's a good lie, right?

He hmm'd and thought it over "...it's possible. Definitely better than just saying they pulled themselves"

A couple of more minutes passed letting the information sink into my mind before I asked a question "So who's 'her'?"

"What?"

"Right before you got on Sven, you said something across the lines of 'this will impress her'. Who is she? Is she your crush!?" I looked at him putting a whole lot of fake excitement into my voice as I put my hands over my mouth

"W-what? No!" He stuttered as his face flushed

"Oh my goodness! Who is she? Is it Scarlet? Or is it Aspen?" I prodded teasing him even more

"Mom, stop!~ Please!" He begged in response. I just chuckled and quit my charade.

"Well, I can't wait to see it happen" I sincerely said, getting a hmph in response. We made it back without being much said after that

When we got back and entered the main area, I saw the people still hard at work, they were about halfway done and it would take at least another hour for the remainder to be implemented. AJ quickly made his way off to wherever he goes at this time, which is with the small group of kids that is his age group.

I observed them working, contemplating if I should help them or not. It wouldn't hurt to help them at least a bit... I started walking forward to them only to be stopped by a familiar voice which made me halt in my tracks

"What do you think you're doing?" Violet asked as she walked up behind me

Caught, I just stood there watching the workers "Uh, well I thought-"

"Thought I told you not to do anything today" She cut me off as her arms wrapped around my torso and pulled me in making a slight blush appeared on my face

"But I-"

"Shouldn't disobey the wise and true words of my gorgeous girlfriend? Hey, I was gonna say the exact same thing!" Violet teased as she put her head on my shoulder. I smiled and rolled my eyes at her remark

"I know last night was scary to say the least, but you don't need to worry about it any longer. I feel completely fine" I replied honestly, putting my hands over her's

We stood and observed for a few seconds before she finally responded, "Well, if that's that case, I guess we can..." She unexpectedly trailed off

Right before I could ask her to go on "Gah!" I exclaimed and jumped a little bit, my grasp on her hands becoming tighter as I felt her lips press hard against my neck and start to suck "Violet! Not now!" I harshly whisper-shouted forcing back a moan. It took a few seconds for her lips to depart, but after they did after making quite a loud pop sound, she rested her head on my shoulder again and started giggling "You're acting as horny as you were when we started having sex, can you calm it down just a bit?" I pleaded, looking around to see if anyone was looking at us, which thankfully no one was

She pouted. I wasn't sure if it was because what I said or if it was because I escaped from her grasp and started making my way towards my office

"No... Come back..." Violet weakly begged as she caught up to me and walked at my sluggish pace. When I made eye contact with her I had an eyebrow raised "...into my arms...?"

I smiled at her suggestion, "I don't think so missy. At least not in public. Why do you have to be so shameless?"

She put a hand to her chest "Uh-kuh-puh-fff-tih, I am not shameless!" She tried to defend herself as we made our way inside the building

"Is that so?" I questioned humoring her

"I mean, when you see fruit and you're hungry and it's right in front of you, it's kind of hard not to take a nip" She explained as her hand lightly trailed down my arm

"..." I cleared my throat passing a couple who may or may not have heard us. I heard Violet giggling just the slightest which made me shake my head a small bit. When we were a sizeable distance from the couple, I decided to make a detour on the next turn to make our way toward our secluded room. Violet was too busy keeping in her giggles to notice that we took a turn as a sinister grin slowly crept its way onto my mouth. I took off my watch and pocketed it for the fun to come, and in this sense, literally

(Sex incoming: Ctrl +F "sex over" to skip if you wish)

Approaching the door on the right side of the corner of the hallway, I put a hand lightly on Violet's back

"What are we doing here?" Violet asked with genuine curiosity. In return, my hand pressed against her a tad harder as I chuckled "Clem?" I opened our door swiftly and quickly forced us both in. "If you just wanted-"

"Sh" I silenced her as I forcefully grasped the region of her pants where her nether region was concealed making her yelp "I want your clothes off. Now" I said in the tone that she gushes over. Both of these actions combined made her shrink two or three inches as she gulped "Did I stutter?" She shook her head when I removed my hand as she began to strip down "Faster" I demanded as she complied

Now I wasn't that turned on because after the consecutive days that she's been in control, I'm really kind of sexed out. But I really wanted to teach her a lesson about shame

When she stood completely nude in front of me I pushed her onto our queen-sized bed. After the sudden push, she propped herself on her elbows "What was-"

"Did I say you were allowed to speak?" I asked as I adjusted my footing to be looming over her. I put a hand on her chest and pushed her down as my other hand trailed up her knee and onto her inner thigh causing her to whimper "Now, what did I tell you about doing sexual stuff to me in public?" I asked looking her right in the eyes as I drew circles on her inner thigh with my index finger

"I-I, you said th-that it was very unp-professional and embarr-rrasing" She struggled to answer as my finger trailed higher and began to tease her drenched folds making her release a tiny soft moan

"And?"

"A-And that if I did it, y-you would-would make me regret i-it?" Violet answered making up an answer because I only told her the former. But nonetheless, her second reason fit like a charm

"Damn right" I answered smiling down at her "And this time I'm finally going to do something about it" I stated as she started to slightly tremble beneath me

"O-Oh?"

"Yes. If you make a sound, I won't have sex with you for a week and stop what I'm doing the instant I hear a peep from you" Her face fell at the words

"Y-You can't-"

"Oh yes, I can" I could probably go a week. Though I know for a fact that on the third day Violet will practically be begging me to pleasure her "And it'd suck for you if I would deny your orgasm, hm?' I added on with a grin

"No that's im-impossible to d-do!"

"That sucks for you then. Should've listened to me" I said as the predator in me started making its presence more and more known

"C-Clem-" She was cut off by my index and middle finger spreading her lips apart. Her hands instantly went to her mouth and silenced any noise that would've made its way out had she not done it

"Do not. Make. A sound" I demanded as she nodded her head frantically. I started to make my way down her body and got on my knees so I could have a full view of my sopping wet prize. I put my hands on her inner thighs and slowly leaned my head in. I decided to tease her a bit by exhaling lightly on her womanhood. Her trembling picked up a bit so in return I started draping my fingers over her inner thighs. And when she least expected it, my tongue lightly penetrated and separated the entrance to her cavern.

I kept my ears open to listen for any sound. None. Surprising but not an unwelcome one. There's still a bunch of things I wanted to do to her.

I slowly slid and forced my tongue upwards collecting all the juice until it hit her clit. Rubbing my rough tongue against it for a few seconds I expected something to erupt from Violet. But nope, all she did was grab a pillow and practically strangle it against her face

I swallowed the liquid that my tongue collected and realized that it tasted... like... Why did it taste exactly like honey?

My eyes widened as the hunger within me grew four-fold. I wanted as much of this tasty liquid as Violet can and has produced.

I fully penetrated her completely with my tongue and forced it down against one of the sides of her vagina only to bring it up against the other side, only to repeat the process, each revolution speeding up a little bit faster than the previous one

She tasted... so fucking good, I don't know what it was but I hoped it didn't change anytime soon. I continued collecting her juice as her walls started to close around my tongue. That was a little quick for her

One of her arms bolted down onto my head and pulled me out of the honey pot. I looked up at her with a dripping chin to see her uncover her completely reddened face giving me a begging look. I gave her a nod "P-p-p-please le-t-t me make n-noise"

"Or I could just leave right now?" I suggested seeing her eyes get misty making me feel guilty. Maybe I shouldn't have done this...? "Ugh, fine. But only directly into the pillow. If you don't use the pillow then I'll stop" I answered not waiting for a reply, as I really wanted to taste more of her. When I resumed my work, she instantly started screaming into the pillow. Music to my ears

My tongue started getting tired from all the repetitive movement, but at the same time, her walls started closing and closing until finally, she came. She used one of her hands to force me deeper into the cavity as she screamed and humped her hips while I desperately tried drinking all of the elixir. After a reasonable amount of seconds later, her climax ended. She set aside the pillow a few seconds later

I lagged behind for a few more seconds making sure most of the delicious liquid was collected. When I stood back up and wiped my chin off she breathlessly commented "That... was-"

"Just the beginning" I finished for her, an intrigued yet scared look making its way onto her face "I've still gotta teach you to be at least a little shameful" I added on, a hand going to her side and traveling up her warm and soft skin until it stopped at her shoulder, which then I started to lean over her

"How exactly- EEE" I cut her off once more by my index finger penetrating her soaked and warm ravine

"Was that a sound?" I asked with fake disbelief as her eyes widened. To be honest, I really just wanted to torture her, giving her an overload of pleasure to where she couldn't think right. The mere thought made my heart flutter

She shook her head trying to deny that she made a sound. I let it pass as my finger started to do the familiar motion of going in and out. I looked her in the eyes while doing it feeling her plush body begin to tremble again. My hand on her shoulder migrated to the back of her head as I leaned in and kissed her, slipping my tongue in making us both close our eyes. I surprised her by slipping in my middle finger and ring finger making her start to moan into my mouth

My hand started moving faster and faster as I kissed her harder. I didn't want to break the kiss until I was done so I forced her to stay as I breathed from my nose to only continue kissing her

I squeezed my pinky finger in stretching her to limits we barely go to, making my index finger rub against her clit even harder. I started to very roughly penetrate her, all the while she moaned and screamed into my mouth as I felt another one of her orgasms quickly approaching

And when it did I didn't slow down my motions at all, I just enjoyed the vibrations her screams made in my mouth and throat. I felt my fingers being splashed on as liquid splattered onto the floor. After a few more seconds of stimulating her, I withdrew my hand as I broke the kiss, quickly making my way to her neck and giving her a giant hickey on the side of it

After hearing and enjoying her small grunts from it, I stopped my advance and backed away a couple of steps from her to admire my work. I loved seeing her like this, red-faced, legs wide open, her panting, a little bit shaky, a small puddle on the floor, weak, and slightly sweaty

"Now will you keep being shameless in public?" I asked starting to lick the lubricant off my digits

"If the payout... is this good... then hell yes" She answered as I rolled my eyes. "Want me to do to you... what you just did to me?" She asked clearly wanting to. I shook my head in response as I didn't want it at the moment. She shrugged, closed her legs, eyes, and rolled into a proper sleeping position on the bed

"If you be shameless one more time, I'll make this look like I wasn't even trying" I warned as I grabbed a cloth from our wardrobe to dry my fingers

"Yeah, sure, looking forward to it" She replied as she pulled a blanket over herself

"You sure going to sleep now would be a good idea?" I asked getting my watch out of my pocket and putting it on. It was only ten in the morning. I didn't get a reply so I assumed she just drifted away. Perfect, that's what I wanted her to do in the first place even though I had to fight hard to resist the giant urge to join her on the bed

(Sex over)

I made my way out of the room and into the hallway. The reason I did what I did with her was that before she caught me about to help some of the people work, I was also considering to try magic again alone in my office. And now that AJ and Violet were dealt with, there should be no one of immediate importance to interrupt the coming session

When I made it into my office I locked the door and approached the window overlooking everything. Observing the bustling people and hearing the quiet construction made me think a warm though "They could be fine without me or Vi for a couple of days. I think it might be time to start giving them more independence"

I closed the curtains to eliminate that minuscule chance that someone would see what I was doing. Sitting behind my desk I pulled out the paper I've been writing all the mystical information I've been given by the demi-god

Reading over it, i.e. relearning the short history Elideynires told me, the capabilities of magic, and what to do next. Just practice, that's the main thing that she's trying to get across.

Setting the paper down I closed my eyes, cleared my mind, and breathed steadily. This time around it was much easier to do so and I extended my arm toward the paper

As I breathed I smelled the repetitive smell of burnt hair, but the scent was very weak this time. Why burnt hair, of all things? My heart was beating a little faster than normal and when I opened my eyes I saw the paper lightly levitating an inch or two above the desk

My breath hitched in my throat realizing once again that this is real. The page started wobbling as my mind started to freak out just a bit but I suppressed those feelings quickly, making the magical grip I had on the object strengthen. I slowly raised my hand, the page following with it.

I could feel myself... tiring or something similar every passing second I made the object stay suspended in the air, but I forced myself through it

My breathing picked up as it became much harder to maintain it. Thinking of what else to do, I slowly turned my hand upside down causing the paper to also flip

After a few more seconds I couldn't hold it anymore, I tried pushing through the... whatever the feeling was in my mind, but I couldn't. I put my hand down and onto my temple as I rubbed it steadying my breathing

I chuckled as I closed my eyes "Holy shit. This actually is real" I said, still in disbelief thinking of the possibilities. "But why do I feel so... weak?" I asked looking at my fingers feeling that they were going numb. "Please don't tell me that I'm going to pass out again..." I pleaded with a tiring voice taking deep breaths

After a couple of minutes of fighting whatever was making me weak, I succumbed to sleep after the weakness took over my body

...

I once again found myself in a void. I thought she wasn't going to talk to me in a few days? I called out her name only to receive silence

"Hm," I thought but was interrupted by a reverberating maniac sounding laugh. A laugh that was undoubtedly not Elideynires

"You truly honestly believe her? Everything she has said to you is to corrupt your mind. You'll only be a pawn of many in her grand scheme of conquering your world. She only seeks power, whether that be through lies, murder, genocide, or war" The male voice said from all around me. I looked around for the voice only to feel the non-existent ground shaking as the darkness turned a dim red

"Who are you!?" I yelled out as the ground cracked "Why shouldn't I trust her!?"

"Because it would be foolish not to obey me" It threatened with a sinister growl as dread and fear flooded my system

"Who are you!?" I screamed as the floor beneath me shattered and I started falling

"I. Am. Uni-"

...

The door rattled forcefully, to a point where it woke me up with a scare "H-Huh?" I said as I lifted my head up off my desk in a completely delirious and confused state as the dread and fear slowly started leaving my senses

"I thought I heard screaming in here!" Ruby's voice answered, a little bit muffled from behind the door "Is everything alright in here?"

I shakily got up and took a deep breath as I went to the door and opened it "Uh, yes, everything is just... fine. It was just a dream" I answered being somewhat truthful

"A dream? I've never heard a scream like that with just a dream..." She stated, concern lining her tone taking a step toward me "What was it about? You're all sweaty" She pointed out

"To be completely honest, I have no clue" I lied feeling my wet forehead making me slightly wrinkle my nose

"You sure?" She asked lightly prodding. I just slightly nodded my head "...Okay then. If that ever happens again you should tell me" She advised as I backed up a little bit allowing her to walk in completely

"Uh, what do you need?" I asked turning around as Ruby passed me. I realized I left the sheet of paper on my desk. And Ruby was looking at it

"What's that? Elid-" Before she could continue reading what was on it, I rushed over to it and snatched it away from her vision and stuffed it away in a drawer. When I was done with that I looked at her and put on an awkward smile as she raised an eyebrow "...Okay then. I reckon that's something you don't want people to see so I won't pry" She respectfully commented as I visibly became relieved. "I'll make this quick"

When we took our respective seats she told me that the poppies they've been growing have been harvested, though I wasn't paying that much attention to her as I was too busy smelling my fingers of the light musky scent of Violet and thinking about the void I was in and what the voice said to me

What the hell was that...? Is Elideynires really just deceiving me...? The voice sounded so... cold

"Clem? Clem?" Ruby asked prying my attention away from my thought process "Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?" She asked with a slight smile after she regained my focus

"Uh, shit sorry Ruby. I just have some other things on my mind" I replied looking at my watch. Shit! It's two in the afternoon! I hope Violet got herself up

Well anyway after that we talked for ten minutes more until I sent her on her way. I got up and opened my window, squinting when the Sun's rays hit my eyes. I quickly got used to it and observed the outside. I noticed that the construction was completed in the time I was asleep

"When was the last time Vi and I went on a date...?" I asked myself trying to remember observing the people winding down from their work "...It's been a while..." I answered, slight sadness entering my system. Then I remembered that she may very well still be asleep. Figuring I might as well check if she was there, I headed to our room

"No!' Violet tiredly rebuked lightly swatting one of her arms and rolling over

I put my hands on my hips "Listen here missy, if you don't get up right now I'm gonna have to join you" The words made her eyes shoot wide open "Plus, if you don't get up, how am I supposed to ask you to go on a date with me?"

She rolled back over to face me and took a couple of seconds to respond with her cute morning voice "A date? We haven't been on one of those in... yeah, that sounds like a good idea" She agreed when a puzzled look appeared on her face "But isn't it like... eleven o'clock? Isn't that a bit early?" I shook my head slightly and told her the actual time "What!? Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

I hesitated for a quick second before answering "I kind of fell asleep in my office"

"I have many questions as to why that is but I'll let it slide this one time" She replied as she got up and picked up her clothes from where she stripped down at and redressing herself quickly. Huh. I wasn't expecting that reply but it wasn't unwelcome, that's for sure. "So where were you thinking we should go?"

I thought about it for a few quick seconds. It was still surprisingly warm enough to where swimming was possible. "I was thinking we could go down to the lake this time and swim? It's been ages since we last swam and I'm really wanting to do it again"

She hmm'd "You know the hill next to it?" She asked as I nodded my head "Maybe we can have some type of picnic on top of it and then go swimming?" She added on making my smile grow

"Yes, that sounds perfect" I agreed, wrapping my arms around her neck causing her to smile.

She puts her hands on my waist as we look each other in the eyes. My heart skipped a beat as I realized once again how lucky I am to have her. How caring she is, how thoughtful she is, how protective she is... it's always been like this since day one

"I love you" I reminded her as I leaned in to gently kiss her. She pulled me into a light hug as we kissed for a few seconds before we pulled apart

And when we did she repeated "I love you too"

...

Three hours later we were on one of the trails that lead off to the secluded lake. I had planned on making it not so secluded, i.e. remaking the small dock, put in a small fishing node, and a shack, but not right now. Maybe a year or two in the future when we need it. But as it is, no one usually goes here

I had my hand in Violet's as we made our way to our designated area while her other hand was occupied carrying a basket of sorts as we enjoyed the calm scenery "I'm planning on planting orange trees all along every trail" Violet announced breaking the silence

I playfully scoffed "Of course you are" I commented trying to hide a smile forming on my face

"It would make everything look even nicer" She pointed out as a question popped into my mind

"Where did you even get orange saplings anyway? I just realized I never asked about that"

She chuckled "A few months ago Louis wanted me to go scavenging with him. We strolled upon a few trees that grew oranges. A great idea entailed" She answered as I shook my head with a smile

About five more minutes of walking passed before we finally started walking up the relatively small hill that overlooked the light blue lake. And once we reached the top "This looks like a good land" Violet pointed out as she released my hand and put the basket on the ground. I agreed with her as she took out a large wool blanket and laid it out evenly

"I missed doing this" Violet said as she put the basket onto one of the edges of the blanket. When she was done moving it she planted herself next to it signaling me next to her. I made my way next to her and plopped myself next to her as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I leaned into her as I looked at the awaiting lake

"So what did you put in the basket, as you wouldn't let me see what was inside. You were being very giddy about it" I asked looking up at her

"Now that'd just ruin the surprise" She replied rubbing my head with her free hand making me furrow my eyebrows

As I fixed my hair she started pulling food items out "They quickly made fresh bread that I was excited about and I kind of prematurely gotten ingredients to make us sandwiches" As she pulled out containers of tomatoes, a type of tomato sauce, lettuce, venison, and cheese she quickly added "We won't even be able to tell the difference between them being ripe or not"

She was probably right so just shrugged my shoulders and stopped leaning on her as she pulled out her knife as well as the final ingredient, half a loaf of bread

"Shouldn't we swim first?" I asked as she started slicing the bread into reasonably sized pieces. She looked at me funny "You know... to avoid cramps?"

She barked out a laugh "Clem, you know that's a myth, right?"

The tips of my ears turned red "Oh..." Is all I said

"Jeez, Clem you're so... fucking cute when you're flustered" She pointed out when she finished slicing the bread

I smiled and rolled my eyes at her words as I began building my sandwich "So is that why you try to embarrass me every time we're together in public?" I asked as I poured the final ingredient, sauce, onto my sandwich from its plastic container

"Pfft, that's way over-exaggerated. I don't do it that often" She tried to argue. I just raised an eyebrow as I finished making my sandwich. When she finished making hers she looked at my face "Okay maybe in recent times it's often, but really I don't do it that often"

"Mhm," I replied with skepticism as my stomach rumbled. Taking that as the best time to begin the meal I took a bite out of my sandwich tasting all the ingredients. It's been months since we had all the proper ingredients to make a good sandwich I almost completely forgot about the taste of them "Did you bring any drinks?" I asked Violet. The smile that appeared on her face didn't give me a good feeling

"Yes" Violet replied as her free hand reached into the basket and pulled out two wine glasses and a half-full yellow wine bottle "Pinot grigio" She stated as she laid one glass in front of us each

I raised my eyebrows when I saw the bottle. I wasn't that much of a wine drinker, in fact, I've barely had it, but this was a nice surprise. "Where did you get wine from?" I asked a little intrigued

"Aasim gifted it to me quite a while ago but I never knew if or when I should drink it. I figured today would've been perfect. You want some?" She asked as she took the cap off

"Of course," I replied as I lifted my glass up. She slowly poured the light yellow liquid in until the glass was just under halfway full "Now we can't drink too much..." I warned as I smelled what now resided inside the glass. It was a weak scent but still strong enough to know that it was alcoholic

"Bah," She replied. When she finished pouring her own glass, she lifted it up towards mine "To Violentine lasting for many years to come. Also to our community lasting even longer" She cheered as she clinked her glass against mine making us both smile

"Agreed" I replied as we both began drinking the substance. It had been months, maybe even years, since the last time my lips touched anything that had alcohol in it. So I was taken back by the liquid a little bit, even though it was pretty weak compared to other stuff I've drunk in the past

After a couple of seconds of drinking, we placed our glasses down, with me coughing a little bit. It tasted pretty decent and I wouldn't mind drinking more, I just needed to get used to it again

"Do you not like it?" Violet asked with minor concern

"No, it's good. Just been a while, y'know?" I replied and she quickly understood

As we ate and talked about numerous subjects, we also had to keep our eyes and ears open, you know just in case a walker wanted to have a meal as well. "Do you think the walkers will ever vanish?" Violet asked spurring a new conversation

I chewed the last piece of sandwich I had and swallowed it. I sighed at the question "I don't know Vi. They've lasted this long. And I don't know how many people there are left to fight them. Woulda figured they'd all but starved by now, but I guess not" I answered as I picked up my glass

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring the mood down" She apologetically replied as she took a drink of her own

"Don't worry about it. I often think about that question too" I replied setting my empty glass down

"I reckon it's time for us to get in the lake, hm?" Violet suggested after a few seconds as she emptied her glass. Solid conclusion as no more food remained. I agreed with her as we started putting all the containers, glasses, and the blanket away

"So the lake just might be a tad bit cold," I said as I stood on the worn-down dock of the large lake as Violet walked up next to me

"A little cold isn't bad" Violet replied as she started taking her shirt off

"Well at least ask me out to din- oh yeah" I responded trying to plug a joke in but failed miserably

"You're such a dork" Violet replied as she threw her shirt behind her "Well come on, start taking these clothes off" Violet prodded as she tugged my shirt "It's not like anyone will see"

I smiled and slightly shook my head as I took off my shirt "I'm not getting naked for you in this lake" I stated as I took my pants and boot off swiftly throwing them to the small pile of clothes Violet made. Before I got in the lake I looked down at my prosthetic. It was like a leg that I just couldn't feel, because no matter the circumstance it's ninety percent just like my original leg. So swimming has long since been possible.

"Well, I wasn't going to either. How could you think I would do such a thing?" Violet asked with fake offense as she stuck her tongue out at me

"How mature" I teased as she gripped my arm

"Geronimo!" Violet yelled as she jumped in bringing me in with her

As I reemerged out of the water seconds later I quickly wiped my eyes so I could see. I started to slightly shiver as I looked around for Violet. She reemerged seconds later beside me "Was that really necessary Violet?"

"Yes. Because it would've taken you a while to jump in" Violet replied with a giggle. It seemed like she was a little more immune to the cold than I was as she quickly resubmerged under the water and started swimming away

I huffed at her actions and started following her, trying to warm up. When I caught up to her I pointed out "Your hair's getting a bit long. You sure you like it like that?"

"Pfft, hell no I don't like it like this. I'm gonna have to cut it soon" She replied putting a hand up to a few strands of her hair. It was only above her shoulders so it wasn't that bad. As I was thinking about her hair a grin made its way onto her face "You know what game I barely got to play as a child?"

"What's that?"

"Tag, you're it!" She swiftly said as she poked me in the side rocketing off in a random direction

"Wh- you're making the amputee chase you!?"

...

I was in Violet's arms as we floated on the water and looked into the sky. We were probably in the lake for about an hour at that point and the earliest signs of the sun starting to set started appearing

"You warm enough yet?" Violet asked with a grin breaking the peaceful silence

"You know I asked to be in your arms just so I could cuddle with you, right?" I replied, feeling a little tired from all the swimming we've done and the small bit of alcohol we drank was only making it a bit worse

"Yeah, I know" She cockily responded pulling me in closer "You could never resist being up close to me" She added making me roll my eyes "When should we get out?"

"Soon sadly" I replied as I closed my eyes for a few seconds and pushed into Violet a bit more

"..."

"..."

"K̵̺͘r̵͍̾a̵̼͂w̵̮̆s̴͙̍ţ̶̎"

My eyes shot open "..." My ear under the water heard... something. The sound was so quiet but... whatever it was it sounded like... someone trying to say something. It was very unsettling. "Did you hear that?" I asked looking up to Violet

"Hear what?" She asked as she looked down to me. I noticed that both of her ears were above the water so there'd be no chance of her hearing what I heard

"...Nothing. I think it's time to get out" I announced as I unhooked my arms from around her

She sighed in disappointment, not at me mind "Yeah, I guess it's time to go. This was fun, we should do this more often"

"I second that" I replied with a smile as she started swimming toward the shore. I stayed back and just thought about that... that sound. It was so weird. It sounded like-

Something grabbed me by the ankle and pulled me under the water. So quick that I didn't have time to say anything. I tried fighting and swimming back up but I was no match to whatever was pulling me down. When I was a few dozen feet under the water did I realize something, I wasn't running out of oxygen

"Though that may be true, don't stop holding your breath" A croaky voice announced making my heartbeat pick up even faster

"This is a promising one..." A creepy feminine voice called out as I felt something drift across my leg. I tried kicking whatever it was to only have it wrap around my ankle and lock my leg in place

"I can see why She wants this one so bad... she gives off a very strong magical aurora... it would be a shame for it to be used against us..." A third voice said sounding similar to that of the first voice. My eyes were wide open but I couldn't see anything as my heart felt like it could pound out of my chest any second. I tried swimming upward only to have my arms held by my wrists and also locked into place

"We've almost depleted our power..." The feminine voice whispered

"This will be our only warning to you," The first voice said as three pairs of golden eyes appeared in front of me "Stop speaking with Elideynires. For only misfortune would come your way..."

I was... speechless, looking into their eyes. I tried saying something but since I was underwater I couldn't say anything

"We are some of the chosen scouts..." The feminine voice somewhat answered the question that I was going to ask if I was able to "Now go to sleep..."

That was one of the last things I heard before feeling my energy evaporate within seconds. I tried staying awake... but I couldn't. As I started closing my eyes, I saw many white bright scribbles and symbols all around my vision

"The message ʰᵃˢ ᵇᵉᵉⁿ ˢᵉⁿᵗ" Is the final thing I heard for many many hours. That of which were quite interesting, to say the least


	4. Prequel Chapter

Due to many events happening the past couple of weeks I was not able to upload a chapter to Magically Induced today. Half of the blame's on me because I focused on other things besides Chapter IV. But thing is one of the things I focused on is a different story, that some of you may have seen already. It's called "A New Horizon" and is canon to Magically Induced. It takes place two weeks after the boat incident. But it's about Clementine and Violet's first time having sex and it's very descriptive. So if you're okay with something like that it's there. If you're not okay with something like that then just ignore this. I'll try and upload both IV and V by the 19th of October, but no promises. I hope you can understand


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